A.I. Evolution: The Fall of Lucien

Chapter 28

The phone rings on Smit's desk, in his office at the barracks that have been allocated to the Swiss Guard for the last five hundred plus years. He picks it up. "Hello this is Commander Smit of the Swiss Guard; how can I help you?"

"Smit, this is Alan'd at the Polizia office. I am calling just to inform you of a couple of murders close to Vatican City, over the last two nights."

"I see. Do you have any leads yet?" asks Smit, as he sits up straighter in his chair.

"Nothing concrete, but because the victims lived close to the Vatican walls, I thought I should notify you, so you can warn your people about walking alone at night."

"Who were the victims, and how were they killed?"

"It was two young females, both single and they lived within two blocks of the front gates to the Vatican. The weapon was a very sharp knife, which was used to cut across the throat deep enough to stop any sound coming out, because the windpipe was cut clean through. The edge of the cut was so clean, it has been suggested that the killer could have used a surgical scalpel to do the job. The other strange twist to the murder is the carving of letters in the forehead right after slitting the throat of the victim."

Smit swallows before asking the question but knows he must. "What were the letters?"

"An M on the first and an O on the second."

Smit shakes his head. "You do know that this sounds like a serial killer and he is giving us a message by marking his victims."

"Yes, that is my thought also. I just hope that the message is not very long."

"I agree. Thanks for letting me know. I will pass the information on to the rest of the Guard, so they can talk to any young women that might be leaving at night from the Vatican."

Smit hangs up the phone and checks his watch, "A quarter to four, most of the staff that are hired from outside the city are normally leaving at five." He steps out into the main part of the general office and raps his knuckles on the door frame to his glassed-in office space, rattling the clear windowpanes. The heads of the various departments for the Guard look up at their commanders' sudden noise. "OK, just to let you know, so you can pass this information on to your men. There has been a couple of killings close to the outer walls over the last two nights. I just got off the phone with Alan'd down at Polizia headquarters. It was two young women that were killed by a very sharp object being drawn across their throats. If there are any young women leaving the city late at night they should be warned of the possible danger."

All the men nod their heads and start to talk among themselves as Smit returns to his office and gets ready to head to his own rooms.

Rafael gets up and walks across the square to the Pope's Palace and first stops into see the kitchen staff to warn the girls there before proceeding down to the seamstress rooms at the end of the hall. He knocks respectfully because one does not barge into the lair of the seamstress. Ruth. The head seamstress opens the door slightly to peer around the massive wooden barrier. Rafael leans forward slightly to get a glimpse of what they might be working on, but Ruth moves the door to further block any chance of him seeing the new uniforms that it has been rumored her and her staff have been making for them. "Not a chance big boy and tell Smit he will see them until after I am ready to reveal my creation to Pope Pius and not before.

Ruth is closing the door again when Rafael places his hand on the wood, being careful to avoid the pointed metal rivets that protrude from the crossed sections of dark wood. "Sorry, but I am not here to spy on you, but to warn you of a possible serial killer that seems to be preying on young girls at night just on the other side of the Vatican walls."

Ruth shakes her head. "I had already heard. Alan'd is my sister's brother-in-law. It is bad enough that their throats were slit but carving those letters in their foreheads is just creepy."

Rafael gives a little shiver himself as the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end at the thought of something sharp being drawn across his throat. "I know what you mean, which is why I have come to make sure you know and can pass it on to your staff."

"Well, thank you for that," concedes Ruth before closing the door again.

Ruth turns from the now closed door and looks around at the new apprentices that she has taken on as of late. "OK, everybody, listen up. It seems that we have a serial killer preying on young women out in the city beyond the outer walls. I know that some of you have not yet gotten your quarters here in the Vatican, so listen carefully. I do not want any of you walking alone till we have gotten the word that the killer has been apprehended. Understood."

All the women young and old around the various tables respond as one. "Yes, Mom."

Ruth smiles at the name they have given her; thinking that it is very appropriate, because she does feel like their mother sometimes, especially when they come to her with their personal problems. She nods to them and returns to the new uniform that is sitting on the wire frame stand on the raised platform.