"They're taunting me, whoever they are." Sypher stared down at the images on the papers in front of him, all of them showing the corpse of Hermes Rhodes, the man he'd suspected of murdering people around the city.
"How do you know?" Elda asked, drumming her fingers on the wooden desk between them.
"Because they know I believed Hermes to be the killer. He doesn't fit the usual pattern. This was a message to me."
"What's the usual pattern?"
"The victims look like the characters described on the torn pages the killer leaves by their corpse. Normally they're almost an exact match, but this time is different. Instead of describing the victim, it describes the alley he was found in." He slid a piece of paper across the table that documented the writing on the torn page.
"I've read this before. It's a murder mystery."
"Fitting," he muttered. "What book is it?"
"The house on the hill." Elda tapped her chin thoughtfully. "It was a long time ago so I don't know exactly what happened, but I can remember parts of it."
"Maybe if we find the book it'll tell us what the killer is planning next."
"It's as good a start as any."
Sypher led Elda through the library, taking a complicated path between lots of high mahogany shelves laden from floor to ceiling with leather bound books. She breathed in the scent of the old pages with a wistful sigh.
Sypher had been stationed in the Library since the first torn page was found beside a body. He was posing as the Librarian so he could track the people coming and going, hoping to find the person tearing the pages out of the books.
They found the right section and he scanned the spines for the title, climbing the ladder towards the top when the ones he could reach came up empty. At last he found a book bound in vibrant green leather, the title pressed into the spine in sloping golden script.
"This is it." He descended and opened the book, skimming through the pages until he found the jagged edge of the one that was missing. "Just like the others. Whoever it is comes to the library, finds the book they want, tears out the page and puts the book right back without ever borrowing it."
"We'll if they borrowed it, there'd be a record of their name right? This way it's harder to find them," Elda pointed out.
"There's a second missing page," he frowned, skipping further ahead to find another stubby strip of paper where a full page of words was meant to be.
"Maybe I can remember what was on it." Elda held out her hand, brows raising at the surprising weight of the book as Sypher handed it over. She skimmed the pages before and after the missing one, frowning at first. Then her eyes widened.
"What?"
"This chapter described the killer's last intended victim in the book. He attacks her and takes her to his house on a remote hill, isolating her from everyone else and forcing her to fight her way out on her own."
"And what does this victim look like?" Elda looked up at him reluctantly.
"Well...I guess she looks like me." Sypher cocked his head. "Oh no. No no no. I know that look. You are not using me as bait again. Absolutely not."
"You've never been hurt before."
"That doesn't make it an enjoyable experience, you know."
"Please will you just trust me?" She looked up into his extraordinary red eyes and sagged.
"Fine. But you owe me big time for this."
oO0Oo
Elda sat on a park bench pretending to read a book, her hair down in delicate blonde waves around her shoulders. She wore a yellow sun dress like the character on the missing page and it left her feeling exposed.
Sypher hid nearby. She couldn't see him, but she knew his umbramancy helped him remain invisible inside the shadow of a huge oak tree not far away.
The park was quiet in the late evening light, most people having already made their way home for the night. They'd chosen the place because it was the closest they could find to the one the victim was taken from in the book.
Elda pretended to be absorbed in the pages, turning them every so often as though she were really taking in the words. Eventually she felt someone approached and looked up to find a handsome stranger with auburn hair and green eyes.
"It's a little late to be out here alone, don't you think?" His voice was pleasant, but his smile didn't reach his eyes. He kept his hands in the pockets of his unseasonal coat and Elda's heart started beating a little faster.
"I hadn't noticed the time," she answered, feigning surprise. "I'd better be going." She gathered up her book and stood to leave. The stranger stepped closer, one hand revealing itself to touch her arm. He wore gloves. In summer.
"Let me walk you. It's not safe alone at night."
"It's alright, it isn't dark yet," Elda answered, smiling falsely. "Thank you for your kindness." She turned away and began to walk, feeling exactly like the blonde victim in the book as she heard him fall into step behind her. She angled towards the tree she knew concealed Sypher, hoping she reached it before the killer could attack her.
As she passed under the boughs of the oak, the killer reached out to grip her hair, almost managing when Sypher stepped out of the dark and tackled him to the ground.
The killer grunted as he was forced onto his front, hands trapped behind his back. Elda searched his pockets.
"The missing page!" she exclaimed, brandishing the torn paper. "I can't believe we were right!" Sypher snapped handcuffs around the stranger's wrists and dragged him to his feet, turning him to look him right in the eye.
