"Well, this is quite the odd-ball little group we've assembled here, eh Thaddeus?" Horatio said as the four of them took a seat around the table in his workshop. "A werewolf, a robot, a hulking metal-worker, and a dashing detective. I'm feeling quite confident in this team's murder-solving abilities."
"This is absurd," Thaddeus said. "We should work alone, as we always do."
"Thanks for the confidence vote," Ferris growled.
"Now, now Thaddeus," Horatio cut in. "Ferris feels a responsibility to keep an eye on us for the sake of his people. Buford feels he needs to make up for making the bullet that killed Roderick. Both fairly admirable reasons to join us, I should think."
Thaddeus just groaned and leaned back in his chair.
"Here's what we know: For each of the passed three days, a member of the supernatural community has been murdered. A zombie, a vampire and a werewolf. What does this tell us?"
"Someone doesn't want us around," Ferris said bluntly.
"Specifically, they don't want the supernatural around. Because of the inconsistency in targeted species, we can assume that the community as a whole is the villain's prey. We also know that at least one of the victims were killed by a silver bullet. These bullets were made by Buford for a group of customers about a month ago. What else does this tell us?"
No one answered.
"That the murders were planned well ahead of time," Thaddeus stated.
"Precisely!" Horatio said excitedly. "We know that these were made for a specific type of target, and that the people firing the bullets intended to use them more than a month ago. Buford said there was a rotating of four different men keeping watch on him. From this we can deduce that there are a minimum of five suspects."
"Why five if there were four men?" Buford asked.
"Because we know that they were meeting regularly at this Temple of Time. From your description of their dress, they probably are involved in religious or cult activities at this place. And they must have a leader. So one leader plus four followers makes a bare minimum of five. Though I'd go forth assuming even more. Especially considering the number of bullets.
"Now, the final piece of information we have: the so-called Temple of Time. I have never heard of such a place in London, and neither have the records I've searched through. Therefore, I'm assuming this is a codeword for a meeting place."
"Then why earlier did you assume a cult?" Thaddeus interrupted. "If the word 'temple' isn't meant literally, the cult connection is hardly definitive, which would bring the suspect count down to a likely four."
"The way they dressed is still a good indicator, and that combined with the use of the word 'temple' seems more than a coincidence. And though it might not be a proper name for the place, it might very well still be a religious place for them. The fact that they are targeting an entire group of people also seems to suggest a Crusade-like quality to their actions."
"So," said Ferris, "cult of at least five is behind the murders. Base of operations at this 'temple.' Planned out a while ago to attack the supernatural community. This is all good, but how does this help us find the killers?"
"Well we are going to find this out in two ways," Horatio answered. "Ferris, you and I are going to go undercover and try to infiltrate this cult and find out what they're up to. Buford, I need you to use your connections to ask around and find out who sold them guns. If they have bullets, they needed guns. They must've got them somewhere. Thaddeus will accompany you."
"Joy," Thaddeus mumbled.
To be continued... (yes this was late. Oh well.)
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