(Untitled)

[sir_samuel]

The thick darkness of the depth of night surrounded Eostre's hut despite the candles and flashlights of the people now milling about. Vimes had roused the other IPD heads and the lab staff, and from there the news had spread quickly

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[ab_executioner]

Anita hadn't been able to sleep. Oh her hut, cabin, whatever you wanted to call it now was warm enough, but the cold reminded her of this time last year and that brought nothing but bad dreams. Rather than remain by herself she decided to head to the compound. Bundling up took an annoying amount of time but she wasn't about to do anything that would end her up in the clinic.

She noticed as she headed on her way that there was more activity than one would expect for this time of night. Eventually she found herself heading towards Vimes with a look of confusion on her face. What had happened now?

[sanders_csi]

He kept telling himself this was okay. He'd been on graveyard for so long, middle of the night work shouldn't bother him at all. Except for the fact that he'd learned how to sleep normal-person hours in the year he'd been here.

Yawning wide, he had the fingerprint captures and the hairs they'd collected in his case, which had been handy, but they didn't really matter. It was that creepy Japanese chick that Nick talked to. At. Whatever. It was obvious. You didn't even need to be a criminalist. The chick hadn't bothered to cover up anything. They'd found tracks and missing bedding and some blood drops and smears and the snow gave up everything. Open and shut, who took the baby was no mystery.

There wouldn't be any creepy Japanese chicks in noir. He decided that much.

[sir_samuel]

Vimes wished it wasn't so obvious. He wished it wasn't that damned vampire girl thing, because that meant that his instincts had been right and he hadn't trusted them. He had let others convince him that the girl was harmless. He had even, maybe, felt a little sorry for her. Harmless? Hell.

His face was grim and set as he approached Greg. "It was her, wasn't it? F, or whatever the hell she calls herself."

[sanders_csi]

"Yeah," he nodded, fighting another yawn. "All the evidence points to her, and let me tell you...she isn't any kind of master criminal. Did she want to get caught? I mean, what the hell."

[sir_samuel]

"I'm not convinced she's human," Vimes returned darkly. "She sure as hell doesn't think like one." Which could mean anything at all for Mack. The thought made his jaw clench and his fists curl.

[the_real_ray]

So much for a good night's sleep. Even if he hadn't been living close enough to Eostre to hear any commotion once it started up, Ray was one of the first people out of bed and at the scene once it was reported.

"Anything yet?" he asked as he watched those lab guys do their thing. Wasn't that long ago he would've been the one who would've been squatting on the ground doing the detecting, but here and now he didn't begrudge them their work.

[sir_samuel]

"Still waiting," Vimes answered darkly. He had his hunches, but he didn't want to share 'em just yet. He didn't like his hunches for one, and for another, even he knew that he was too damned agitated to look at anything properly.

[the_real_ray]

"I hate that I can understand murder better than I can understand this," said Ray. "You just don't take someone's baby. Not when you don't want a couple of people killing you when you're caught before the law can even get close." He paused a moment and kicked at the snow. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

[sir_samuel]

Vimes narrowed his eyes. "That maybe we've got someone 'round here who doesn't think in terms of 'you don't take someone's baby'?" His eyes fell on the footprints leading away. "Yeah, I'm maybe thinking that."

[pokerplayereyes]

Ned Coates was not amused. He'd been pulled out of a warm bed with a naked woman and now somebody's child was missing, which never bode well, but children went missing every day in Ankh Morpork and, after a week, everyone forgot, because children were always going missing in Ankh Morpork and, if you thought about things like that for too long, you broke your own heart.

He folded his arms across his chest, his sword at his hip, and he waited.

[sir_samuel]

"Coates." Vimes was in a Bad Mood, and that didn't bode well for the Lance-Corproal. Not well at all. "How d'you feel about maybe being a bit of use around here?"

[pokerplayereyes]

"Figure I could maybe see my way to helpin' out," said Ned, his head ducked in the cold. "You look even angrier than usual, Sarge."

[sir_samuel]

Vimes snorted. "A kid's missing, Lance-Corproal." And not just any kid. "You see any reason I shouldn't be?"

[dogbitesman]

It always happened with the snow, or near to it. And involving someone in protective custody for their own sake, too, although the circumstances were different. Hardly a pattern.

Still. William was hanging back, breath misting in the cold air as he suppressed the urge to yawn; he'd been woken up when Maladicta got called in, and was still waking up. He was simply observing and writing notes, for now; he was only going to talk to someone if it looked like they had a minute to spare in which they weren't doing anything useful.

He'd much rather write about a Heroic Rescue than a Grim Tragedy, after all.