Hound wakes up to find a new white colored three piece suit hanging outside his Almira. He stares at it unimpressed. He admits that suit's quality and design is first class. He admits that and thus must be expensive, but white is his most hated color.

 

He stands up, stretches his arms and opens the door of the washroom to find a message written on the mirror: PLEASE WEAR IT. He is unfazed. He pulls his toothbrush and notices a slip pasted on it: NO WARM WATER UNTIL YOU OBLIGE.

 

He sighs. He then opens his Almira and to his shock, which is lazy to come on his face, all his black clothing, even the socks are nowhere to be found.

 

He closes the Almira and rushes outside the room. A sudden chill creeps on his skin. Air Conditioners are turned on at 16 degree Celsius.  Hound is shivering. Who switches on the ACs in a middle of a December morning?

 

The answer is his daughter Tina Barker, who is wearing as many warm clothing on her body as humanly possible. She is teasing her father as she enjoys a big bowl of hot chicken soup.

 

Hound rubs his head and goes back to his room. He yawns and lies on the bed.Both father and daughter are stubborn. I guess I am staying in my room today. Barker thinks. His phone rings. A message from Captain Singh says, HURRY! A CASE FOR YOU!

Hound sends a message to ask for the location. Barker lights a cigarette for a quick smoke. He looks up. Tina finishes her bowl of soup and wonders when will his father give up.

 

Alarms go off. “NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!” Tina worriedly runs and loudly knocks on Hound’s door. The door opens. Hound gets out all wet, and much to Tina’s horror, the suit is also ruined.

 

Hound turns off the ACs. He then searches for his black clothes. Tina finds a slip pasted on the suit: IT WAS ABOUT TIME TO WIN.

 

Hound is dressed up and leaves the house. “CAN’T YOU BEHAVE LIKE EVERY OTHER NORMAL Father FOR ONCE!?” she angrily shouts. She rushes to her room, picks a notebook from her study table and writes 625 losses to 0 wins.

 

~~~

 

Barkers are the only residents on the 13th floor of North Star Housing. Hound bought this apartment at half the market prices because there was a rumor that the 13th floor is haunted.

 

Hound clicks the elevator button. He types and sends a text message and keeps the phone in his pocket. He puts his hands in the pocket to protect them from the harsh winter snowy winds. He tightens his scarf around the neck.

 

The elevator doors open and he sighs in sadness as he meets another loud person. “Good Morning Mr. Barker,” A blonde 17-years-old girl says.

 

“Hello Julia,” Barker greets back and steps inside the elevator. Both he and his daughter do not like her not because her smile lacks any energy. It is just that her kind and charming personality is a mask to hide a hideous bully.

 

“Isn’t it a very lovely day?” Julia asks.

 

“Yes. Yes, it is. So are you going out with your friends?” Barker asks, “Isn’t it a little too early?”

 

“Not too early for a study session with a friend, don’t you agree on that, Mr. Barker.”

 

“I agree. Absolutely. You must be studying hard assuming the fact that you are sneaking out of your house at 3 am last night.” Barker notices the Julia’s trembling hands, and her eyes almost pop out of the socket. “Oh my! You are shivering. You should wear a glove on those delicate hands.

 

The elevator plays a beep as it opens at ground floor. “It was a nice conversation, Mr. Barker. I will talk to you later,” Julia says and hurries out of the building.

 

“Ask your parents to have dinner with us sometimes…” Barker loudly says with a wide smile. He waits until Julia is out of sight to wear his original expressionless face.

 

“Johnny boy-“ Barker calls for the young boy wearing a red bandana hat.

 

“Yes, Mr. Barker,” Johnny answers, “What are the orders?” He is short, but a well-built boy. His brown hair escapes his hat.

 

Barker writes something on his notepad and tears the page and hands it over to Johnny, “I placed an order at Huckleberry Bakery for a Chocolate Mousse Cake for tonight’s party. Their delivery guy has called sick.”

 

“No problem. Anything else?”

 

“Come to the party if you want, but you have to wear a formal suit- at least a coat.”

 

Johnny suddenly stops. He holds his breath. He massages his forehead. “Fine,” Johnny answers, “Do you want me to order chicken from your favorite barbecue point?”

 

“Yes-“

 

“Drinks?”

 

“Beer. Alcoholic and Non-Alcoholic.”

 

“I think your daughter can handle alcohol better than you.”

 

“Shut up and get to work.” Barker patted Johnny’s back and leaves the building. “TAXI!” he shouts. A taxi stops right in front of him. He is lucky. He is in a hurry after all. “To this address, please,” Hound says and hands him over a slip, “And make it quick.”

“Lucky you sir. It is just a 15-minute ride from here.” The old taxi driver says. He notices that his customer is busy with his mobile phone. “Your hair looks like someone had a very bad day making pasta.”

 

“Hmm.”

 

“And that beautiful black colored scarf is so ugly when you wear it.”

 

“Hmm.”

 

The old taxi driver is having a fun time making jokes on Barker who is too busy to react. “Sir, look! There is a girl trapped inside the burning building.”

 

“Where?” Barker drops his phone and forces his face against the window.

 

The old taxi driver laughs, “You love danger, don’t you? I guess you were reading a mystery or adventure novel on your phone.”

 

“How do you know I was reading a novel?” Barker asks in surprise.

 

“If you were texting someone or surfing through social media then your finger movements should be more frequent which was not the case here.”

 

“Brilliant answer.”

“I don’t think you are too bright for a person who works in criminal investigation line.”

 

“How do you know about that?”

 

“Because… before you got busy on your mobile phone, you were rolling your eyes, so I assumed you were observing your environment which is a good thing. We live in a very dangerous world.”

 

“Good observation back there. And if I am complimenting someone, then it means that I am really impressed. Why are you driving a taxi and wasting such a brilliant mind?”

 

“I was a smart man who couldn’t afford to pay his tuition fees. Nowadays youngsters just kill their brains with these mobile phones.”

 

“Well, they are convenient.”

 

“They are a pain in the ass-“ the old man taxi driver says and stops the car in front of a small diner. “Your Alley is just a crossing away. Sorry for not dropping you right there, but I don’t want to start my morning with a dead body.”

 

“How do you-“

 

“It is the hot topic. Here-” the old taxi driver hands him a business card: MIRACLE GARAGE, “Come to me if you need any help.”

“I thought you were a taxi driver.”

 

“Well I just fixed this car so I thought why not take it for a test drive. Bye!” the old man drives away without taking any money.

 

“Weird!” If Hound Barker is calling someone weird, then there is definitely something wrong with the person.

 

~~~

 

The AHPD has barricaded the area, but reporters like a wild wave try to breakthrough. Captain Singh keeps staring at the corpse. He could only feel pity for a dead one.

 

“It is not my first time seeing a corpse but damn…this is making me sick.”

 

“Feeling mutual-“ Captain Singh replies.

 

“When is your detective friend coming?”

 

“Any minute now…”

 

“Sir there is a guy by the name of Hound Barker calling for you. Says you called him here,” A uniform informs him.

 

“Please send him in, Lee,” Captain Singh orders Inspector Lee, “Think of the devil.” Captain Singh is surprised to see Barker in his usual black outfit and asks, “I thought Tina made you wear the new white suit.”

 

“How do you know about that?” Barker asks.

 

“I paid for the suit,” Singh tells him about his part in the plan, “Come on Barker, it is your birthday.”

 

“And this case is a very terrific gift. Thank You very much. So what are we looking at?”

 

“Multiple stabbings on the body. The body is rotting unusually at a faster rate, and the internal organs have exploded.” The forensic scientist answers Barker’s question, “Hi! I am Jazz Willington.”

 

“Hound Barker! Nice to meet you.” Barker says, and the asks Singh, “Does she know?”

 

“Yes, but she is still new to this stuff,” Singh answers. ”Now what do you think is behind this murder.”

 

“I think they are vampires,” Jazz says.

 

“Nice try, but no. Killer Vampires are very careful when hunting their preys. They make sure that not even one drop of blood is wasted,” Barker says pointing out to the blood around the body.

 

“Nothing is eaten. Every organ in the body is utterly destroyed. So to think that the murderer is either a werewolf, a werecat, a zombie or a ghoul is completely out of question,” Singh says.

 

“Werecats?” Jazz asks.

 

“Humans who can transform into any member of the cat family. Please try to keep up Ms. Willington,” Barker answers.

 

“Now I know why people call you annoying.”

 

Singh laughs at Jazz’s comment, “Anyway back to the business-“

 

“Sir does AHPD have any leads on the Widowmaker’s case.” A press reporter loudly asks from the crowd, “It has been months, but police is still nowhere near to catch the Widowmaker. Public wants to know how long they have to live in fear.”

 

“Excuse me please,” Singh walks towards the press, “How cliché is this? A beautiful reporter breaks through and asks a very demanding question.” Everyone laughs, “I was assigned to this case just yesterday and my team has discovered some important facts which I think the previous in charge ignored.”

 

“What kind of facts?”

 

“No further comments,” Captain Singh leaves the reporters who are craving for more information.

 

“Months?” Barker asks.

“I wanted to tell you, but I was assigned to this case yesterday.”

 

“And what is with this name?”

 

“The serial killer is called Widowmaker or Ms. Ripper because he brutally kills married males,” Singh answers, “The case is assigned to me when District Black thought that magic is involved in the murders.”

 

“What is District Black?” Jazz asks.

 

“It is better if you don’t know,” Barker answers, “Let’s put their beliefs to a test.”

 

Barker lit a lighter and burns his gloves. Jazz looks in horror. The color of the flames transforms into green. Singh pulls a bottle and pours water on his gloves. The smoke makes a bunch of smoke rings around the corpse. Barker stores one of the rings in a glass tube and shakes it.

 

The white smoke changes it’s color to a lighter shade of gray, “You have to be fucking kidding me,” Barker reacts.

 

“You sure there was no mistake in the procedure?” Singh asks.

 

“Dirt, Fire, Holy Water and Air. I am sure every ingredient was present.”

 

“What is happening? And why aren’t you injured after this stunt?” Jazz asks with a horrifying reaction.

 

“I chanted a spell to learn if magic is used here. A magical weapon is used to kill the victim. But it is strange. Usually, the mystic weapon uses up around 30% of the energy for activation sequence.

 

“Activation sequence?”

 

“In simple language, binding itself in a contract with its user. The more powerful is the weapon, the more energy will be utilized on activation sequence.” Singh answers.

 

“So what's wrong? Is the weapon very powerful?” Jazz asks.

 

“If that is true then smoke would have changed it’s color to black due to the huge presence of mana in the environment, but the tool our murderer used is unique. Something I never heard of in my experience.” Barker says, “It consumed only about 1% of mana for the activation sequence.”