Blake leaned against a pillar, apparently checking his blackberry, in actual fact checking out the black and whites cordoning off the scene.<em>Fuck it.</em>he thought.<em>So much for doing things the easy way. Ah well .. plan B.</em>He put the device away and made his way out of the casino, already having a list of names and probable locations in his head for those he could speak with. The shadier elements would respond to bribery or intimidation, and he was happy to use whatever tools got the job done.<br/><br/><em>So, possible reasons for these deaths.</em>he thought as he made his way through the city.<em>1 - Serial killer. Possible, but not enough to tell if its likely or not. Serial killers tend to operate to a pattern, even if the rest of us can't tell what it is? Is there enough similarity in scenes or victims to tell that yet?</em><br/><br/><em>2 - Ritual crap. Someone is working up the big mojo and needs deaths in the right times and places, or body parts from the victims to pull it off. No idea about that one. I'll have to email the eggheads and see what they think.</em><br/><br/><em>3 - Cover. Only one victim actually matters. The rest are there to blur the situation and create a smoke screen. Again, possible. I'll need bios on all the victims. Another one for the suits to look into.</em><br/><br/><em>4 - Power play. Unlikely, since the victims are too widely separated. Some hidden connection? Possible. Won't know til I flip over a few rocks and see what scurries away.</em><br/><br/>Blake sat down at a coffee shop a few blocks from the casino, writing, encrypting and sending off his requests for information. A bagel and a cool drink later he was on the move again, to the first of the list of names of the cities shadier personages who specialised in knowing things that mattered.