Technically It's Love

When Shadows Fall

Madi's POV

I woke up and stretched my arms. It's been two days since what happened in our last case. I got to see him shirtless! As friends though, no romance, yet. I hope Jack doesn't ruin things any further. He's already given Elliot one week to confess that he loves me. If he even feels like that. I mean, I do. Maybe today's the day I tell him. Perhaps I will. Unless he beats me to it. I smiled and got out of my nice warm bed. Hmm, what should I wear today? It might take a few hours to get there. I grabbed a black graphic tee with a bunch of cats on it. The cats are flying around in space. I like this shirt, it's nice. I then grab a pair of ripped grey jeans. A dark grey let's the color on the shirt pop or whatever it is. I take my pajamas off and then get dressed. I pulled my jeans on and my feet didn't go into the holes in the knees or other rips. I then put my bra and shirt on. I slip my leather jacket over my shoulders and I then walk to the bathroom. I do my morning bathroom routine and then put my makeup on. I put my eyeliner on and my eyeshadow. I smile at myself in the mirror, feeling pretty. I shuffled around and found my bracelets. I losely let them hang from my arms and walk out of the bathroom.

I grab my phone and stuff it in my pocket. I think we might leave for Italy today. I'm really excited. I am craving some spaghetti! I walked out of my room, happily skipping downstairs and to the break room. I wonder if I beat Elliot here? If I did, I guess I'm making the tea this morning. I mean, it would be nice to talk to him before everyone else comes. I walked into the break room and Elliot stood in front of the kettle, his back turned to me. I tip toed over to stand next to him. He turns to me, gasping. Did I scare him? I smile at him. Elliot's eyebrows furrowed.

"Oh god... you scared me! Don't just sneak up on me like that!!"- He says.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you... but I see that the tea is ready! Is it okay if I have a cup?"- I reply.

"Of course you can Princess. Just don't scare me again, alright?"- He replies, still not giving me a smile.

"I won't. And I'll take that!"- I replied, taking a cup of tea.

Elliot pours himself another cup. Oh, did I take his? He doesn't look upset though. I sat down at the table and he sat down next to me. I plugged in my earbuds into my phone and I smirked and began to listen to my morning wake up motivation song! Elliot looks at me and rolls his eyes. He sips from his cup, not taking his eyes off me. I quietly sung High Hopes. Elliot watched me and listens to me sing. I hope he doesn't think it's too bad. I mean, I might be off pitch. He rests his head in his hands. I think he hummed along. After the song ended I sipped from my teacup. We sat there in silence and we sip our tea. As everyone else walks into the room, I've finished my cup. Elliot was still sipping. Chief raises an eyebrow at the both of us. I smiled at her.
"I'm guessing you both are not packed?"- She asks.

"Oh. Um, no, but don't worry we can-"- I start.

"Nope! We sure aren't! But as soon as I finish my last sip, we'll head upstairs and pack up our stuff if it bothers you, Chief!"- Elliot says, interrupting me.

"Elliot, that was uncalled for..."- I whisper.

He smirked at me and sipped from his cup really slowly. I think he's doing it on purpose. Chief looks mad. I don't want to get in trouble! But, it was kinda funny. And he looks so cute when he smirks. After about two minutes of Elliot slowly taking sips from his cup and having everyone stare at him, he sits his cup down, returning his gaze up to Chief, still smirking.

I stand up and grab his hand. "And we'll be going now!"- I say.

He rolls his eyes and walked with me. "Yeah yeah... whatever."

I walked upstairs and to our rooms. I let go of his hand, blushing a little. I walked into my room as he went to his. I grabbed my black leather suitcase and opened it up. I grabbed all of my clothes and etc and threw it in my suitcase. I then walked into the bathroom and threw all of my makeup and bathroom stuff in there. I grab my phone charger and put it in there too. I smiled and zipped my suitcase up. I walked out of the room and Elliot was there waiting. He smirks.

"You really are a slowpoke, you know that Princess?"- He says.

"Yeah I know. But, I have more stuff than you do, so I will take as much time as I want!"- I reply.

He rolls his eyes. "Whatever."- Elliot mumbled.

I walked downstairs with my rolling suitcase. Elliot follows me as I walked downstairs, his suitcase trailing behind him. I smiled as we walk back into the room, holding the handle of my rolling suitcase. Chief smiled at us. Then she walked out of the room. We're heading to the plane. We walk upstairs and everyone else follows Chief Ripley. Once we get to the plane, me and Elliot head to the back. Elliot sat down at the window. He puts his earbuds in and starts listening to whatever he listens to. I yawn and rest my head on his shoulder. He glanced over at me, and turned back to the window. I could hear some of the music he's listening to. Lone Roses.

I gently grab his earbud and take it out. I smile up at him as he glared at me. "Um Elliot... I'm sorry to bother you, but is it okay if I do this? I want to make sure it's okay before I go to sleep. I'm really sorry but-"- I start but he put his finger on my mouth to silence me.

"It's fine love. You've done this about four times and I've let you. It's alright to just sleep on me. I could care less..."- Elliot replies, taking the earbud from my hand and putting it back in his ear.

"Oh... alright."- I reply, closing my eyes.

I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep. I started to think about what he would think about if I told him that I like him. That I've fallen for him. How would he react? Well, I'm sure he'd either reject me or agree with me.

Elliot's POV

"Oh... Alright"- She says, closing her eyes and falling asleep.

She looks so at peace while she's sleeping. So pretty... beautiful even. I turned to look at her. I smirked and mess with her hair. I've got to tell her how I feel, but how? I mean, I only have a few days before I lose my dignity and my wardrobe. It makes me want to puke at the thought of wearing pink or any other colour. Ew. Jack can go flaunt himself all he wants, but I mean he'll be single forever. No doubt.

Jack's stupid deal... I really would enjoy strangling him. While we're in Italy we totally have to have a pizza. Or spaghetti. I mean, we're in Italy. I can't wait to tell her and just shove it in his face! I slip my other earbud back in. Madi really had the nerve to take it out. I just roll my eyes and gaze out of the window. I quietly hummed along with my music. After the song was over I caught myself humming the song from earlier. That dumb song from the dumb band she listens to. It's alternative. Who would want to clash Pop, Rock, and Metal together? Ew. I feel someone wrap their arms around me and I flinched. I turned my gaze away from the window to her. She's wrapped her arms around my waist in a tight hug. Jeez. Now I can't even move. I sighed and turned up my music, looking at her. God I love her... I think.

Madi's POV

Hours later we arrived at Italy. Hmm. Are we here? My eyes slowly fluttered opened. I blinked a few times and am met with Elliot. He was looking at me and blushed, quickly looking away. I smiled at him. Elliot pauses his music and he carefully rolled up his earbuds. He then stuffed them and his phone into his jacket pocket. I stood up and grabbed my suitcase from the overhead compartments. I walked away a few steps ahead. He stands up, flustered, and grabs his suitcase. I smirked at him.

"Ooh, someone's blushing!"- I whisper.

"I am not! Shut up!"- Elliot whispers back.

"Well to me it looks like you are! Your cute when you're blushing though. You should do it more often. Maybe even a smile?"- I ask, raising an eyebrow at him.

"No."- He replies.

"Please?"- I ask, starting to walk downstairs.

"No."- He replied, walking after me.

"For me?"- I reply.

"No. Never."- Elliot replies.

"I'll just have to make you then!"- I reply, smirking.

"And how are you going to do that, Princess?"- He asks.

I stopped walking in the middle of the hallway. I turned to him and he stops walking too. I pinch his cheeks, and walk behind him. I then lift it up and make his lips form into a smile. I smiled. Elliot looks cute like that. Aww. He looks at me, glaring.

"What are you doing?!"- He asks, rolling his eyes. It sounded weird because he couldn't open his mouth.

"I'm making you smile because you never smile. You should smile more often because you look adorable when you do!"- I reply.

Elliot crossed his arms and kept glaring at me. "Don't care... could you stop now? Like immediately?"- He asks.

I stopped. I was really happy that I made him smile. Even though I had to assist him a bit. Elliot rolled his eyes and grabs his suitcase. I smirked at him and rolled my suitcase along with me as I walk. I walked upstairs and he followed me. I walk to my room and opened the door. Elliot goes to his room and throws his suitcase down. I hear it hit the bed. I roll my suitcase in and set it down. I opened up the suitcase and pulled out my combat boots. I changed my shoes into something a little bit less comfortable. I sit my black converse into my suitcase and then put my bathroom bag in the bathroom. I walked out of my room where Elliot's waiting. We then walked downstairs.

I walked into the break room and sit down. Elliot sat down next to me. Chief Ripley was already waiting for us. We sit there and wait for her to start talking. Elliot looks really bored and upset. He scoffs and rests his feet on the table. Chief then begins talking and telling us what has happened in Italy the last few days.

"So Brother Klaus Weissmann is here in Italy. Well it might be because of the change of the Pope... The current Pope is terrible ill and I'm concerned that this power might be wanted by the Promethians."- Chief starts.

"Well who's going to replace him?"- I ask.

"Currently Father Pietro Agnelli is the favourite to replace the ailing Pope. But the guy's outspoken, especially about the unification referendum. And he's not at the Vatican right now. Three days a week, the father washes the feet of the homeless at Piazza di Spagna here in Rome."- Chief replies.

"Well he sounds pretty humble for a person who is soon going to be in control of the Catholic Church."- Carmen says.

"Yeah but it could be a cover. The Promethians have some pretty high profile connections through out Europe. And I want Madi and Carmen to meet Father Agnelli at Piazza di Spagna to make sure he doesn't work for the Promethians!"- Chief Ripley replies.

I nod. "Of course Chief. Carmen, let's go!"- I reply, getting up and running out of the room.

I run to the garage and stand by the squad car. Carmen walks in a few moments later, with the key. She unlocks the squad car and we both pile in. I get into the passenger seat and buckled my seatbelt. She gets in the drivers seat and pulled out of the driveway. I started messing around with the radio. I messed with the volume until I found my preference and started singing along to anything that came on that I knew. Carmen rolls her eyes at me and continued to drive. It only took a few minutes to get to Piazza di Spagna. Carmen parks the squad car on the sidewalk. I get out and she gets out too. We walk over to the huge fountain of some person and oh my gosh. There's a dead body up there. And he has a Promethian symbol branded on his chest! Oh no. Guess I better look around for some clues.

I started to look around. I don't think Carmen's noticed the body yet or she would be in a real panic. I was about to take a step when I looked down and stopped. Ooh. I found a tire track. Now what can I use to collect a sample? Oh wait. I have an idea. I take out my phone and snap a picture of the tire print. Hmm, they could be the killer's tracks, or an innocent bystander. I continued to look around when something caught my eye. Oh, you know what this is. Torn paper baby! Yeah! I walked over to a table where a collection of tiny papers sat. I grabbed an evidence bag and bagged them up. I smiled. This should give us our first suspect! I collected my evidence and walked over to Carmen, who was siting by the fountain.

"So uh, Madi, where's Father Agnelli?"- She asks.

"Um, up there!"- I reply, pointing up at the body.

I think it is Father Agnelli. I mean he's wearing a Priest robe.

Carmen looks up and gasps. "Oh no! That better not be him up there! Father Agnelli can't be dead! We already have so much to do!"- She exclaims.

"He's wearing Priest clothes. I think it's him."- I reply.

"Someone branded him on the chest with the Promethians symbol?!"- She exclaimed.

"Well, at least we know he doesn't have relations with the Promethians, or if he did, he doesn't anymore."- I reply.

"Did you find any clues?"- Carmen asks.

"I found a tire track nearby. The killer could have possibly driven off after the murder."- I reply.

"You can probably find a match in our database."- She replies.

"I also found some torn paper. That always seems to give us something."- I replied.

"Well so far you've been right, so get to it!"- Carmen replies.

"Shouldn't we update Chief on the situation?"- I ask.

"Uh, good point. I mean with the current Pope dying and the new favourite already dead we probably should let her know."- Carmen replies.

Carmen takes out her phone and dials Chief Ripley. Chief answers, not in a good mood.

"Carmen? Wait let me guess... Father Agnelli is dead?! His murder will send the Catholic Church into dismay!"- Chief Ripley shouts.

"Yes Ma'am."- Carmen replies.

"But you know that the Promethians love chaos! This is probably a power play! You gotta find the killer quickly Martinez, but don't let it slip to any sort of press!"- Chief screams.

"So we have another murder to solve I'm guessing?"- I ask.

"Yep."- Carmen replied.

I pull out a roll of tape from my pocket and dump the pieces f torn paper onto the table and started looking at it. Some sort of poster I'm guessing based on the white outer outline. I started to tape the poster together. Father Agnelli's face appeared. He was standing next to a Nun. She was wearing all blue, and had white hair. She was wearing a blue badge with NO written on it. Must be about the referendum. I finished taping up the poster. So Father Agnelli and this nun ran a Catholic radio show? I showed it to Carmen.

"So Father Agnelli is on a poster advertising a Catholic radio show? And he worked with a nun named Sister Beppa at the radio station, Radio Cattolico..."- Carmen says.

"We need to know more about this. Maybe things didn't go well?"- I reply.

"We can go talk to her after you've taken a look at that tire track!"- Carmen says.

I nodded. We bagged the body and then walked back to the squad car and got in. We buckled our seat belts and she drove off. I smiled as I held the finished poster in my hands. It only took about seven minutes to get back to HQ. Carmen parked the squad car and we unbuckled our seat belts. I stood up and helped Carmen carry the body inside. Carmen then took the body to Angela while I looked at the tire track. I sat down at the computer and started looking at the photo I took on my phone. I started looking at different vehicles and see which one matches. After a few long minutes, I finally found them. The tire track apparently is from an Italian scooter. Interesting. Carmen walks back into the room. She walks over and I tell her what I found.

"So the track came from an Italian scooter?"- Carmen asks.

I nod. "Yes and the track we found seemed fresh, so it must've been the killer that left it behind."- I say.

"The killer is going to need something a lot faster to escape you!"- Carmen replies.

"Now all we have to do is go find Sister Beppa so we can talk to her!"- I reply.

"Don't worry about that. I asked Ingrid to bring her in for an interrogation."- Carmen replied.

"That's great! Thanks Carmen!"- I reply.

We walked out of the break room and walked away to the interrogation room. Sister Beppa was sitting at the table, patiently waiting for us to come. I smiled and sat across from her. Carmen sat down next to me.

"Hello Sister Beppa! We have a few questions about your relationship with Pietro Agnelli."- I say.

"You mean Father Agnelli? He was just wonderful! We both run a talk show on Radio Cattolico, and we can get very political. We share our beliefs about the unification of Europe. We both say 'No' in this referendum! If Europe became united it would be too much power for one person! The poor would be even poorer! And when it was revealed that Father Agnelli might be the new Pope we got some many new listeners! More people were going against the United States of Europe!"- Sister Beppa monologues.

"Sister Beppa, you might want to calm down... Father Agnelli was found dead today at Piazza di Spagna."- Carmen says.

"Oh Mamma Mia! He was killed?! Who would do such a thing? He was so nice! He was as gentle as a little lamb."- Sister Beppa exclaims, her brown eyes softening.

"If you have any other information, please tell us!"- I reply as we both leave the room.

"So, Sister Beppa confirmed that our victim was favoured to be the new Pope.

"Maybe we should go check out the Vatican? Isn't that where important church people go?"- I ask.

"Yeah. We might find some insight t why Father Agnelli died there!"- Carmen says.

We run to the garage and get into the squad car. We buckled our seat belts and Carmen drove off to the Vatican. It took a while longer, but we soon arrived. The place was huge and fancy looking. Carmen parks and we get out of the squad car. I smiled and headed inside. Carmen followed me and she stopped to look at the art. I started to have a little look around. There was this structure thing in the middle of the building so naturally I walked over to it. I was curious. There was a book at my feet. I picked it up and realised that it was a Bible. It has the signature of Father Agnelli though, so it must be important. It also looks like there is a little bit of faded writing. I bagged it and looked around a little more. I saw something that intrigued me. A candle? Hmm. What's with the message on it though? 'Save the lost lamb!'. There's also a weird substance on it too. Guess I should bag this. I bag the candle and walked over to Carmen who was still looking at the art.

"The Vatican huh? Haven't been here in a while... I came here once because I was chasing a news story about stolen art. The experience didn't seem to forshadow another visit. But now we're here to investigate murder! So, what'd you find?"- Carmen says.

"That's awesome! But anyway, I found a Bible!"- I reply.

"I mean we're in the Vatican, we're going to find a Bible or two!"-Carmen replies.

"But there's a message addressed from Father Agnelli."- I replied.
"Oh your right! You need to find out who the message was left for! Break out your dusting kit!"- Carmen replies.

"I also found a weird candle."- I reply.

"It doesn't look like a normal church service candle either. Someone wrote a message on it: "Save the lost lamb!". Who wrote it though? Maybe you can get a sample of the creamy white substance you found?"- Carmen replies.

I opened up the bible and set it down on the floor. I brought out my dusting kit and dusted over the message in the book. I'm genuinely curious about what Father Agnelli wrote. Once I was finished the message read: 'Cardinale Salieri, Humble yourself before the Lord and He will lift you up.'. Hmm, maybe he had an altercation with our victim?

"What was written in the Bible you found?"- Carmen asks.

I showed her the book, "'Cardinale Salieri, Humble yourself before the Lord and He will lift you up?'"- Carmen reads.

"'Humble yourself?' Do you think that Father Agnelli had a problem with this Cardinal Salieri? We need to talk to him about this."- Carmen asks.

I nod. "Yes. We should talk to him, we just have to go find him."- I reply.

An old man walked out of a back room. He had white hair and was dressed from head to toe in red. He had a red hat, a red robe, a ruby ring on his finger, and a golden rosary around his neck. I looked up Cardinal Salieri and the description of the man in front of us matched the description of the one on the Internet. I walk over to him and smile with Carmen following.

"Excuse me, Cardinal Salieri, we need to have just a moment of your time-"- I start, but he interrupts me.

"What do you need, my child? Please make it quick though. I have important Church business to deal with and the Pope is not very well..."- Cardinal Salieri says.

"Well we need to ask you about a Bible we found here and it had a message in it addressed to you from Father Pietro Agnelli-"- I reply, but the Cardinal interrupted me again.

"Oh of course, we've heard of what happened and his unfortunate demise... About the message, it was just a reminder to calm my ambitions and trust in the Lord and what he has planned out for me. Agnelli was very plain yet a very holy man. He practiced wat he preached to everyone as anyone should. Now if you excuse me, I have to leave. His death leaves the Church at an even more vulnerable position than before. I have to make sure no one takes advantage of it!"- The Cardinal says, walking back into the room he came from.

Me and Carmen left the Vatican. I carried out the candle and we walked to the squad car. I got in the passenger side while Carmen got in on the driver's side. We buckled our seat belts. I smiled bopped my head with the radio a bit. In a few minutes, we arrived back at HQ. We unbuckled our seat belts and get out. We head straight to the break room and I set the candle down on the table. I then started looking around for a pipette and a pietri dish. I found both of the things I was looking for and sat down at the table and began collecting my sample. The sticky white substance doesn't really go up the pipette well, but I can work with it. I collected a small amount of the sample and then put it into the pietri dish. I handed it to Carmen.

"Could you take this to Lars?"- I ask.

"Of course."- She replies, walking off to his lab.

Hmm. We're still waiting on the autopsy and that sample might take a few hours to look at. Guess we're going to play the waiting game. About one minute later, Carmen comes back and sits down. I smiled and then sat there waiting for the analysis.

After about one or two hours of being bored or playing games on my phone I receive a text message from Lars. Finally. He's done. It reads, 'Hey Dudette! I finished the analysis and crikey, it's got great results!'. Oh boy. Lars found something good! I put my phone away and stood up. Carmen stood up and followed me as I walk to Lars lab. We walked in and he had a smile on his face.

"Hey! You two are not going to fathom what I found! But, I'll let you guess!"- Lars says.

"Alright. Explain away if you think we know what this is."- Carmen replies.

"Does it look familiar to you guys? It's zinc oxide, with copious amounts! Do you still not get it?"- Lars asks.

"No. Now tell us what it is!"- Carmen asks, getting impatient.

"Not really, big fancy science words are not really my strong suit... but I know that it's a cream of some sort."- I reply.

My response got a chuckle out of Lars.

"Your close. I'll give you that. But, you've seen this substance before. It's that fancy sunblock for albinos. Brother Klaus used it in Germany so..."- Lars replies, trailing off.

"That must mean that Brother Klaus touched the candle. He's been at the Vatican!"- Carmen exclaims.

"Well we already know that the Promethians are somehow involved in his death because of the branding..."- I mutter.

"We know Brother Klaus is a sneaky Promethian! Maybe he left his mark on Father Agnelli?"- Carmen replies.

Elliot was walking by, eavesdropping. He poked his head in the room and smirked at me.

"Well if you want to know you'd better hurry up to the Vatican. I just caught Brother Klaus entering the St. Peter's Basilica on CCTV cameras!"- He says.

"Really? Well thanks kid!"- Carmen says, pushing past him to sprint out of the lab and to the garage.

I smiled, having a light blush rise to my cheeks. "Yeah... thanks Elliot. You really are a genius!"- I say as I walk out of the lab.

Elliot shrugged. "Yeah whatever."- He mumbled as he walks away.

I sprint down to the garage and joined Carmen in the squad car.
The squad car was on and she was waiting impatiently. We finally are going to put Klaus in bars for good. I didn't even fiddle with the radio. Carmen pulled out of the driveway and stepped on the gas pedal. We were speeding through traffic. We have to make sure he won't get away again. Carmen pulls up to the Vatican in a few minutes and jumps out of the squad car. I hastily unbuckled my seat belt and ran inside after her. Carmen had her gun on her in case something went wrong. We spotted Brother Klaus and we ran over to him with Carmen pointing her gun at him. Brother Klaus looked rather shocked.

"Brother Klaus, you've got some big nerve to escape from the interrogation room in Germany!"- I exclaimed.

"Well you have some nerves to move my candle! It should have been left alone. It was supposed to absorb all of the terrible negative energy people were giving to Father Agnelli."- Brother Klaus replied.

"Well that didn't help him at all! He got branded with the Promethian symbol and the shock of it killed him!"- Carmen replies.

"Wait one second... where did you put the Promethian necklace you used to wear?"- I asked, noticing that his necklace was gone.

"Oh that? I turned away from them and went back to my Catholic roots. I've been showed that I was a lost lamb."- Klaus replies.

"Uh we aren't buying your turn around story, Klaus!"- Carmen says.

"But I'm telling the truth! Father Agnelli restored my faith. I saw the error in what I did!"- Brother Klaus argued.

"Oh, well that's nice, but we're still taking you with us into custody for aiding in the murder of Hans Vogel!"- Carmen says, slapping handcuffs on him.

We walked out of the building with Klaus in handcuffs. I helped him into the back of our squad car and then got in my seat. We both buckled our seat belts. Carmen pulled out of the parking lot and drove off. I smiled and listened to my favourite band on the radio. I turned it up real nice and loud. It was, nice. To me at least. Klaus glared at me through the dashboard mirror. Maybe he doesn't like it? Well he's just going to suck it up and deal with it. I cranked it up a little bit more, just to really get on his nerves. Our squad car was like one of those DJ beat boxes. It was lit! Carmen pulls into the driveway of HQ and parks into the garage. I unbuckled my seat belt and happily opened Klaus' car door and helped him out of the squad car and we walked him to our holding cell. I smiled and waved goodbye to him. We walked down the hall and my phone vibrated. I take it out and oh, a text from Angela! I read it, 'Autopsy is ready.'. Hmm, how boring.

"Carmen! Angela is done with our autopsy!"- I cheer.

Carmen smiled. We raced to the coroners office and walked inside. Angela smiles at us as we walk in. She's standing over Father Agnelli's body.

"Pietro Agnelli was a pretty tough old man, but not tough enough to withstand this branding. Fun Fact: branding irons have to be at least two thousand degrees Fahrenheit to create an instant third degree burn on human skin, like this one!"- Angela says.

"I didn't know that! That sounds pretty hot and painful."- I reply.

"I'll uh, make a mental note of that... someday... But was it the branding iron that actually killed him?"- Carmen asks.

"Well yes, but not in the way your thinking off. The mere shock of it touching his skin made his heart stop. But finding the iron will probably break the case wide open! The killer left more than just a mark on the victim though. Apparently they spat on our victim afterwards. I found lactose, high doses of caffeine, and flavonoids in the spit sample. All of these chemicals make a cappuccino!"- Angela replies.

"Oh, so our killer likes drinking cappuccinos before they kill? Well they aren't going to have time for any more coffee breaks now!"- I reply, smirking.

I wave goodbye to Angela and we walk out of the room. We walk into the break room and sit down. Time to recap!

"What mess have we gotten into, Madi? The current Pope is going to die soon and the man who was going to replace him is now dead and branded with the Promethians' symbol."- Carmen mumbles.

"Well, the Promethians were involved somehow! We don't have much to go on though because Brother Klaus claimed that he left their cult and became a Catholic again, but I don't really believe him."- I reply.

"Wait, couldn't the Cardinal guy benefit from Father Agnelli's death? Can't he take his place as the new Pope?"- Carmen asks.

"Possibly, but we should be careful. We don't want to mess with the Church or rub the Promethians the wrong way."- I reply.

"I think we already have, but you are right, we really should watch our backs, our fronts, and our mouths!"- Carmen says.

Ingrid walks in with the TV remote in her hand.

"We might have a new lead for you two, look at the TV!"- Ingrid says, turning the TV on.

There was a woman on TV. She was very elegantly dressed in a red dress and had short blonde hair. She looks distressed though. And she's on a bridge in front of a bunch of water. Uh oh.

"Father Agnelli saved my life once, but I can't live in a place where such a wonderful man could be killed! I'm going to sacrifice myself to the canals! Addio, mondo crudele!"- The woman says.

Oh dear.

Chapter Two

"Father Agnelli saved my life once, but I can't live in a place where such a wonderful man could be killed! I'm going to sacrifice myself to the canals! Addio, mondo crudele!"- The woman says on the TV.

"Well, you two were asking for new leads. Ask and your gonna get it."- Ingrid says.

"Okay, but who is that?"- I ask.

"That's Fiora Tosca. She is Italy's best opera singer. All of the news channels have her death threat live. She lives in Venice, hence her threat about the canals. Also um, Father Agnelli's journey as a priest started in Venice."- Ingrid says.

"Looks like we're going to Venice to investigate. Apparently Father Agnelli saved her life. But we gotta stop her before that lead ends up being a dead end!"- Carmen says.

We dash off to the squad car and buckled our seat belts. Carmen floored the gas all the way on our trip to Venice. We parked the squad car and hastily got out. There was a woman on the bridge. She was very pretty with her green eyes, nicely painted red nails, and shiny golden necklace. We ran over to her and tried to coax her down off of bridge.

"Fiora Tosca? Could you step down from the bridge? I need to talk to you."- I ask in my most calm and kind manner.

"I refuse! I'm going to die at the bridge where Father Agnelli saved me!"- She cries out.

"Is this really the best way to honour his memory, Ms.Tosca? Ending your life after he saved it?"- Carmen asks.

"Yeah and I really really want to know about your friend, Father Agnelli!"- I reply, smiling genuinely.

"He was my friend... and doing this would make his best act of kindness go to waste and take away my taent from the world. I need to sit down."- Ms.Tosca says, getting down from the bridge.

I smiled and watched her sit down at a nearby table.

"Dang... that could have been awful! We should probably give her a few minutes before we talk to her again..."- Carmen mutters.

"Maybe we could take a look around instead?"- I ask.

"Great idea! If he started his mission here than there should be a few clues about him here! Let's start looking around!"- Carmen exclaims.

I smiled and started looking around. I walk around the bridges and stop when I noticed something on the ground. It was a piece of paper with some weird black designs, and Father Agnelli's face! I pick it up and look at it further. It seems to be half faded. There also seems to be a message at the bottom, but it's completely illegible. I bag the paper in an evidence bag. There was a water canal between me and some gondolas. I take a few steps to the edge of the walkway and see something. Is that a... tool box? I should totally look at that. I step into the canal, and I'm up to my knees in water. I wade over to the tool box sitting on a gondola and pick it up. I walked back over to the sidewalk and climb out of the canal. Now I'm wet. Well it's only a little water, it can dry. I grab the evidence and walk over to Carmen.

"Did you really just go into the canal?"- She asks.

"Yep! I mean it's only water, it can't hurt me."- I reply.

"Well alright. What did you find out here?"- Carmen replies.

"I found a paper with Father Agnelli's face on it! And it has some faded writing on it!"- I reply.

"I'm sure that you can find out what it is if you use your dusting kit. Did you find anything else?"- Carmen asks.

"I found a gondoliers tool box! We could find something really cool in there!"- I reply.

"I don't know what you think is going to be in there, but go ahead. "- Carmen says.

I set the evidence down and and begin working. I decided to go with the paper first, since it should be the easiest thing to do. I grab my dusting kit from my pocket and lay out the paper onto the lovely stone pillars. I dust over the paper and the Promethian symbol showed up along with some text, 'Patto con il diavolo'. Hmm, I have no idea what that means. I show the paper to Carmen.

"That paper has the Promethian symbol on it!"- She exclaims.

"I know! Did you read the text?"- I reply.

"'Patto con il diavolo', uh I don't know what that means!"- Carmen replies.

"Well I'm sure Dupont could figure it out!"- I reply, smiling.

"Yeah, when we get back to HQ, we better send this to him!"- She replies.

Next I move on to the tool box. Hmm, how am I going to open it? Maybe I could pick the lock? Yeah that seems like a great idea. I dig in my jacket pocket, hoping to find something that would assist me. Hmm. I got five dollars, my phone, dusting kit, tape, and a paper clip. People use paper clips to pick locks, right? I bend the paper clip till its almost straight and then I jam it in the key hole. I fish around in there until I hear something click. The box opens right up. Bingo. I notice a name on the box lid. 'Alonzo Conte'. Interesting. I dig around through the tools in the tool box and see something that looks odd to be in a tool box. A golden pendant? What's this doing in a tool box? I turn it around. Oh. It has Father Agnelli's face on it? That's weird... and a little creepy. I show it to Carmen.

"You found a golden pendant with Father Agnelli's face? That's strange..."- She murmurs.

"Yep. And the tool box appears to belong to someone named Alonzo Conte. He's probably the gondolier who steers the gondola I found it on!"- I reply.

"Well we can go talk to this Alonzo Conte about this pendant and how well he knew Father Agnelli."- Carmen says.

I look over at Miss Tosca and she seems to have calmed down. Maybe now would be the best time to talk to her. I walked over to her with Carmen following close behind. I smiled warmly at her as I sat down across from her at the table. She wipes tears from her eyes.

"Oh Padre Agnelli! I wouldn't have anything if it weren't for him! Not even the money for a cappuccino! He saved me!"- She cries.

"How did Father Agnelli save you exactly, Ms.Tosca?"- I ask, in a gentle calm tone.

"I was a poor little girl begging on the Venice bridges, but Father Agnelli made sure that we could eat. He took care of me till I grew up. He gave me a scooter on my sweet sixteen even, so I could study opera abroad! I know he taught me forgiveness but, you better catch who did this before I do!"- Ms.Tosca says.

"From suicide to revenge all in one day? Ms.Tosca, don't hurt yourself. We might have to talk to you later, okay?"- Carmen says.

We turn around and walk away from her table. I hold the paper in my left hand and the pendant in my right. I look at the pendant taking a closer look, when someone started shouting.

"What are you doing with my pendant of Padre Agnelli?"- A man shouts.

He ran over to us. He was wearing a red and white stripe shirt with black pants. He wore a red bandana around his neck with a boater hat to match. The hats red stripe didn't distract me from his face though. He had black hair cut off past his ears and had tufts sticking out from under his hat. His mustache didn't go past his lips. And his green eyes were staring into my soul. To be honest, he was pretty darn cute and good looking, but not as good looking as Elliot Clayton back at HQ... As he stood in front of us, carrying his gondola oar I noticed he had gold flakes on his shirt. Hmm, odd. That might come in handy later...

"Well we just wanted to ask some questions about Father Agnelli. We'll give it back to you."- I reply.

"Oh poor Padre Agnelli. He was such a saint, he didn't deserve this!"- Alonzo says.

"Is that why you own a pendant with his face?"- Carmen asks.

"Yes. I'm going to get a petition started to have him canonicalisationed! After my cappuccino break of course. He was too nice to even be Pope! He didn't judge a single soul."- Mr.Conte replies.

"Did you have any reasons to fear his judgement?"- I ask.

He stuttered when he answered. "Everyone has a reason to fear judgement... but uh... he never judged me! Father Agnelli only helps me! And besides his killer will get greater judgement from the higher power."- Alonzo replies.

Mr.Conte then takes the pendant back and walks away. I waved at him and smiled. He waves back. We grabbed our evidence and walked back to the squad car. Once we got back, we got in, buckled or seat belts and were off. We headed back to our HQ but we had a delightful chat on the way back.

"Mr.Conte was easy on the eyes huh? But he sure didn't help us in solving the murder."- Carmen says.

"You got that right... He is pretty cute..."- I reply.

"Oh? I thought Elliot was the man of your dreams!"- Carmen replies.

"He is. I just, don't know how to tell him..."- I reply.

"You can do it, I believe in you kid. Anyway, with Agnelli dead and the Pope on his possible death bed, what's going to happen next?"- She asks.

"Maybe we could take another look at the Vatican? That seems like a really hot place right now."- I replied.

"That's a good idea. I mean it's just down the road."- Carmen replies.

Carmen was so right. After she said that, we drove right by the Vatican and we pulled into the parking lot. We parked the squad car, unbuckled our seat belts and got out. I ran inside and took in the view for a few seconds. Hmm, that thing in the middle of the room looks like an alter. I walk over to it with Carmen following close behind. I instantly see something. What is that? Is that a hat? Oh wait, that's what the Pope wears on his head doesn't he?! The miter? I think that's what it is called. I get down on my knees and take a closer look at it. Oh my gosh. There's faded handprints on it! Who's prints are they?! I stand up and stretch. I picked up the miter and sat it on the alter. I look up and notice a green box sitting there. This is a lost and found box! Something good can be in there! I pick up the evidence and walk over to Carmen who's looking at a statue.

"Did you pick up the Pope's miter?"- She asks.

"Yeah. It might be linked to our victim, possibly. And there are handprints on it."- I reply.

"There could be a new suspect, dust away!"- Carmen replies.

"And I picked up a lost and found box!"- I reply.

"I'm starting to get the hang of how you work! If you wanna dig through that then go ahead!"- She replied.

I decided to go with the box first. I thought about dumping all of the contents out on the floor, but this is a holy place. I stick my hands in there and start moving clothes and lost things around. I continued untili felt something cold and metal. I grab said metal object and pulled it out of the box. Ooh. A cellphone! It's got a password though, so I'm going to have to unlock it.

"So you found a phone in the lost in found box? Do you think you can unlock it? Your pretty good at this."- Carmen says.

"I already did."- I reply, quickly hacking the password.

"Why is the unlock screen a play button? Is it a video?! Ooh, pres play! I'm dying to see what it is!"- Carmen replies.

I nodded and pressed play. The footage was of Father Agnelli... and Brother Klaus?! This shall be interesting.

'Father Agnelli! You are very righteous and I agree with many of your points, but priests marrying?! That should NEVER happen!"- Brother Klaus shouted.

"My son, the Church has to adapt to the changes of modern society."- Father Agnelli replies.

"If you love change so much, than why don't you support the unification of Europe?! Can't you see that it's the best option for everyone?!"- Klaus continues to shout.

"There is no need to be this upset, my son. We can agree to disagree can we not? We can live in peace as brothers!"- Father Agnelli replied.

The footage ends there.

"Oh snap! Brother Klaus argued in the middle of the street with Father Agnelli. He must've felt pretty angry to lash out at him while being on the run!"- Carmen says.

"I know. Some tourist must've filmed everything. I mean seeing a monk fighting with a nice priest would have been weird. I would have totally filmed that if I saw it. Maybe we should ask Klaus about it?"- I reply.

"Good point. We need to go talk to Brother Klaus about his argument with the victim."- Carmen replies.

After that I get out my dusting kit. I pick up the miter and give it a good dusting. Sure enough, handprints became very visible. Yay. I bet we could send this thing to Elliot and he could find out who the prints belong to. I mean of course he can... he's such a genius...

"So there really were handprints on the miter! Elliot can find a match, so let's send it to him!"- Carmen says.

I nod and grab my evidence. We walk out of the Vatican and back to the squad car. We get in and buckle our seat belts. Carmen pulled out of the parking lot and headed to HQ. I looked down at my shoes and tied them. I looked back up and we were there. I smiled and unbuckled myself. I get out of the squad car with the piece of paper and the Pope miter and handed them to Carmen. Carmen nods and took the stuff off to Elliot and Dupont. I walked over to the holding cells where Klaus was waiting. He scoffs.

"What do you want?! Can't you heathens just leave me alone already?!"- Brother Klaus says to me.

"Well I would, but me and my partner need to talk to you about something! It'll only take a few minutes!"- I reply.

"Fine. Anything to get me out of this cell!"- Klaus replies.

I smiled and unlocked his cell door. He was still wearing his handcuffs, so he couldn't hurt me. I grabbed his arms and lead him inside the interrogation room. He sat on one side of the table while I sat across from him. A few moments later, Carmen walks into the room and sits next to me.

"Okay Brother Klaus, from some video footage we found, it seems that you and Father Agnelli had some different ideas on ideology, is that correct?"- I ask.

"I should have never left my dumb hiding spot! I know what it looks like, that I was upset at him, but I was only trying to help! Father Agnelli turned me around and I wanted to return the favour! So, I drove my scooter and waited for him to arrive at his favourite cafe. I just wanted to tell him that he could change plans. That it wasn't too late. He could have been on the good side. I was upset at first, it took everything I had inside me not to spill my cappuccino on him, but I never intended to harm Father Agnelli. I liked him too much even though he had his flaws!"- Brother Klaus monologues.

"Well perhaps your farther in the wrong than you think!"- Carmen replies.

I lead him back to his cell. I locked the door tightly and then waved goodbye to him. Klaus didn't wave back. I suddenly get a text and feel my phone vibrate. I take it out of my pocket and read the text he sent me. 'Hey Princess, your analysis is ready. Come and get it. I'm getting bored!', it read. I smiled. Carmen noticed and raised an eyebrow at me.

"Oh. So is your boyfriend done with his analysis already?"- She asks, smirking.

"Carmen!! He's not my boyfriend! Well... yet..."- I stammered.

"Ooh. Yet huh? Are you going to tell him tonight?"- Carmen replies.

"Maybe... but we should just focus on the analysis for once."- I reply, knocking on the door to his lab.

"We could just go in-"- Carmen starts.

"No. He doesn't like it when people just barge in!"- I reply.

"Come on in, Princess!"- Elliot shouts from inside.

I opened the door and walked in. I hopped up on his desk, smiling. Carmen followed me, standing in the middle of us. She looked pretty confused. Carmen looked at Elliot raising an eyebrow at him.

"Did you just call her, Princess?"- Carmen asks.

"Uh yeah, do you have a problem with that Carmen?!"- Elliot asks, doing a spin in his chair.

"No I don't, I would just like an explanation."- She replies.

"Ugh.. I don't feel like explaining it..."- Elliot replies. "You do it, Madi."

"It's his nickname for me, Carmen! Well, part of it."- I reply.

"That's... kinda adorable. Could you elaborate more?"- Carmen asks.

"Well okay! My favourite band is called Anxiety On Thee Dancefloor! And I wear their merch a lot. He noticed. When we were in Germany, he gave me the nickname Princess Dancefloor! He doesn't use the whole thing most of the time though!"- I reply, and I couldn't help but giggle.

"That's flipping adorable. You two are so cute."- Carmen replies, smiling.

I blushed. Elliot just looked annoyed. I think I saw a hint of a smile though. He's looking at me, and smirked.

"That was a brilliant explanation of it, Princess Dancefloor. But, shall we get on with our analysis hmm? You were here for the handprints correct?"- Elliot says, smirking.

"Oh yeah, we were! I almost forgot about that! Thanks for reminding me, well us, about it!"- I reply, giggling. Why do I always freaking giggle around him? I really don't know.

"Wow, just wow. Anyway, I looked at the handprints you found on the Pope's miter, and I found a match! One Cardinal Salieri. From the way the prints were positioned, it looked like he was trying to actually put it on."- Elliot replies, rolling his eyes.

"Could you give us a demonstration? Please?"- I ask.

"What? No!"- He replies.

"Please Elliot? It would give us a better er, visual of how the prints got there? Please?"- I reply, begging him with puppy eyes.

"Puppy eyes don't work on me. I'm only doing it so you two can leave and go away."- Elliot replies, rolling his eyes again.

"Elliot, if you keep rolling your eyes they could get stuck back there!"- I whisper, giggling.

"Shut up!"- He says with his sassy, but cute British accent.

Elliot picks up the Pope's miter and puts it on his head. Oh my gosh! It's so funny, but so cute! I giggle at him. You know what? I should take a photo. I take out my phone and was going to take a picture when he catches me. Elliot raised an eyebrow up at me.

"No. Don't you dare take a picture of me! Or I'll destroy your phone! I will do it!"- He says.

I nodded. "Okay, I won't, but this is getting caught on the CCTV either way!"- I reply.

"Oh no..."- He whispers.

"Okay so the Cardinal tried on the miter? I see why Father Agnelli told him to be more humble now!"- Carmen replies.

"Yeah, Cardinal Salieri has quite bold ambitions. Let's go ask him about it!"- I reply.

"And Elliot, take that off will you? You look stupid!"- Carmen says, smirking.

We walk out of the room and I just couldn't hold it together. I started giggling like a mad woman. I'm sorry, but he was so cute! Carmen rolls her eyes at me.

"Wow, someone has a case of the giggles. It wasn't that funny."- Carmen says.

"It was funny to me! And oh gosh he looked adorable!"- I reply.

"You should tell him tonight. If you don't tell him, I'd be disappointed!"- Carmen replies.

"Yeah I've been thinking about it... I might tell him today... but I would love to have the courage to say it... and know what to say..."- I whispered.

My phone vibrates. Hmm, is that Dupont? I hope it is. I take it out of my pocket and look at it. It was a text from Dupont. It reads, ' I have finished looking at the message on the paper you sent me, and it was delightful! I can't wait to tell you all about it!'. Oh Dupont. I can't wait either! I smiled.

"Hey Carmen! Dupont's done with the analysis! Let's go!"- I say.

"Really? That's great!"- Carmen replies.

We started walking towards Dupont's library. We walk down the hall and into the room. Dupont smiles as we walk in. I was already smiling before I walked in.

"Oh that paper you found was a lovely specimen! The killer sure did leave their mark!"- He says.

"Well Dupont could you explain how?"- Carmen asks.

"Of course, Martinez! So under the picture of Father Agnelli, we have the Italian text, 'Patto con il Diavolo', which means 'A deal with the devil!'. The killer believed that he had made a deal with the devil somehow and this deal needed Father Agnelli to die! Behind the photo are flames. The image corresponds to something right from Dante's "Inferno"! In said beautiful poem the violent tongues of flame are reserved for the eighth pit of the eighth circle of the underworld. People who give false council to suit an evil end!"- Dupont exclaims.

"Hmm. Council is another word for advice... and Father Agnelli gave most of his advice out of the church... at the talk radio show! It has to be about his radio show!"- I reply.

"That show was pretty polictical... maybe the killer was against the fact that Father Agnelli was against the referendum?"- Carmen replies.

"Possibly. But now we know that the killer knows 'Inferno' by Dante by heart and exactly where they wanted to send Father Agnelli!"- I reply, determined to catch the killer.

We walk out of Dupont's lovely library. Now we need to go talk to Cardinal Salieri. He's probably still at the Vatican. We walk down the hall, into the garage, and into our squad car. I buckled my seat belt while Carmen started the engine. I messed with the radio while she buckled her seat belt. I smiled as an Anxiety On Thee Dancefloor started playing. Carmen pulled out of the driveway, on to the street, and to the Vatican. It wasn't a long drive and it only took a few minutes. Carmen parked the squad car and unbuckled her seat belt. I unbuckled mine and got out. We then walked into the Vatican. As we walked in, we didn't see Cardinal Salieri. A few seconds later, he comes out of the back room. I ran over to him with Carmen following at my heels.

"Excuse me, Mr.Salieri, but why were you playing dress up with the Pope's clothes? You had your handprints on the miter!"- I ask.
"You sound like I spilled a cappuccino on it! I mean, why wouldn't I try on the miter? It's pretty clear that I should be the Pope! We can not have a Pope that runs a radio talk show! Especially something that political!"- He replies, trying his hardest not to get upset.

"Oh? You had issues with Father Agnelli's involvement in politics?"- Carmen asks.

"He was trying to be the Pope of the people! He was campaigning against the referendum like any other politician would! There should be a reasonable distance between the people and the Pope! And I even told him that! But he decided to argue with me. He said that if that was my belief than I should get rid of my scooter! I need it to get around! They are two completely different things!"- Cardinal Salieri answers.

"Well, if your differences with Father Agnelli lead you to murder, than your going to jail and you better believe that!"- I reply.

Cardinal Salieri nodded politely and then walked away. I wonder what he's doing back there in that back room? Maybe that's where the Pope was at? Well it doesn't matter. What does matter however is going back to HQ to regroup. We're getting closer I can feel it! I smiled and skipped to the squad car. I got in and buckled my seat belt. Carmen gets in and does the same. She starts up the squad car and drives to HQ. Once we arrive back at HQ, we parked the squad car, got out, and went inside to the break room. Me and Carmen sit down.

"Hmm, who was the one responsible for branding Pietro Agnelli and causing his heart to stop? Most of the people we've interrogated really liked him and said he was a saint!"- Carmen says.

"Yeah.. Ms.Tosca claimed that Father Agnelli saved her. Mr.Conte wanted to see him canonized! Everyone loved him, well except for Cardinal Salieri. They really seemed combative with each other."- I reply.

"And for Brother Klaus we know that he was or maybe still is a Promethian and the Promethians are somehow involved. And he did have an altercation with Father Agnelli."- Carmen replies.

"If my opinion should matter, I don't think we should trust Brother Klaus. He was reciting Dante's Inferno at Piazza di Spagna. It was caught on CCTV!"- Ingrid says, walking into the room.

"That's a fair point, Ingrid."- I mumble.

"But we've got bigger problems! In Venice, the nun Father Agnelli did the talk show with, Sister Beppa, just chained herself to a bridge!"- Ingrid replies.

Chapter Three

"Really?!"- I gasp.

"Why are all of these Italian women being dramatic at bridges?!"- Carmen exclaims.

"Apparently some nuns were protesting at the bridge. Sister Beppa was really adamant about saying that the YES party for the referendum killed Father Agnelli."- Ingrid replies.

"Maybe she's trying to knock us off her trail! Or might give us some information. We should go talk to her!"- I reply.

We ran back to the squad car and quickly traveled to Venice. I was really excited to go there again because it's a beautiful city. And it has beautiful people. We were driving until we reached a parking lot near the bridge. Carmen parks the squad car, we unbuckle our seat belts, and see Sister Beppa not near the bridge but  walking off of it. We get out of the squad car and walk over to her. She had a metal chain on her arm. She looked really upset.

"Sister Beppa! What happened? What's happening?"- I ask.

"Repression! The police made me get off of the bridge! I have a right to protest!! It isn't fair!"- She replies.

"Of course you do, but do you have any solid proof that the YES voters in the referendum wanted Father Agnelli dead?"- Carmen asks.

Sister Beppa started crying. "I don't have proof. I know they did it. They wanted us to be weaker, so they killed the NO voters leader in the church!"- She says.

"You shouldn't start jumping to conclusions like that, Sister Beppa. Why don't you wait here, and we'll talk to you when you're calm."- I reply, smiling sympathetically.

Sister Beppa walked over to the same small table that Ms.Tosca sat at earlier. I sighed in relief that no one got hurt in the protest.

"Do you think she could be right? We already know that the Promethians want Europe to be one, and their symbol was branded on him."- Carmen says.

"Maybe she could help us my track them? Or maybe she's one of them? Who knows? But we can at least take a look around!"- I reply.

"Well either way we're going to need to talk to her, but let's look for some clues!"- Carmen replies.

I rolled up my pant legs and got into the canal. I waded over to the gondolas and started searching. I looked at one of the boats and didn't find anything. Then I checked the second one and found something interesting. It was a red sash covered in white flaky things and writing. The only two words I could make out were Father Agnelli. This is a clue! I climbed up on to the other side of the canal while holding the sash above my head in an evidence bag. I stood up and saw something. It was just a plain wooden box. Nothing special. Except something could totally be in there! I take the sash and put it into the box. I lifted the box up over my head. Then I get back into the canal and walk over to Carmen. I smiled as I sit my evidence down in front of her.

"So what did you find near those gondolas?"- She asks.

"I found a red sash. It has Father Agnelli's name on it, and it's covered in weird flaky things."- I reply.

"That's great. Can you get a sample of the flakey stuff?"- Carmen replies.

"I will Carmen. Also I found a box with a possible clue inside."- I replied.

"Go ahead and dig in, but do be quick about it."- She replies.

I nodded and quickly decided to start on the box. I started sifting through its contents, hoping to find something interesting. I felt something that felt like paper near the bottom. I pulled it out and it was a piece of a photograph. I bet the rest of them are in here somewhere! I frantically started looking around in the box for more pieces of the torn picture. After a few minutes I had everything. All of the pieces to this puzzle. Now I have more work to do. Carmen's eyebrows furrowed at this.

"Did you just find a torn photograph in that box?"- She asks.

"Yes, and I'm going to piece it back together now!"- I reply.

I took out the tape dispenser I always have in my pocket and arragd the torn up pieces. I went with corner pieces first. Then I moved on to the outer borders. Finally, I ended with the inside pieces. And I then taped it all up! The photo was of a rich family standing next to a priest. Thats a really nice sports car in the background.

"Is this the photo you put back together? Some rich family and a priest?"- Carmen asks.

"Yeah, but I think the priest in the picture is Father Agnelli. I mean why else would it be tore up?"- I reply.

"You think that Priest was our victim? I mean I can totally see that he is just really young. Maybe your right?"- Carmen replies.

There was also writing at the bottom of the picture. "Villa Tosca, 1981." Hmm.

"The writing at the bottom reads, 'Villa Tosca, 1981.'. Interesting!"- I mumbled.

"Tosca? That name sounds vaguely familiar. Do we have a suspect with that last name?"- Carmen asks.

"Yeah! Fiora Tosca, that opera singer. She looks a lot like the girl in that photo..."- I reply, having a hunch.

"Hold up... didn't she say that she was poor? She said that Father Agnelli had to help her and buy food for her family!"- Carmen replies.

"Yeah, let's go talk to her about it. I really hope she gives us the truth this time!"- I reply.

Ms.Tosca was nowhere to be seen. I also couldn't take the sample unless I had proper equipment. We decided to talk to Sister Beppa then. We walk over to her table that she sat at, and I sat down across from her.

"Sister Beppa, your pretty convinced about the YES voters taking part in killing Father Agnelli, yes?"- I ask.

"Well who else would?! They didn't want to think about a Pope who was against Europe being unified as one! There's someone evil behind it, I know!"- Sister Beppa replies.

"Well what about you?  If Father Agnelli became Pope, he wouldn't be able to work with you or your cause because he'd be so busy!"- Carmen replies.

"That is not true. I had hope and faith that he would continue to fight against the unification of Europe from his position as Pope!"- She replied.

"Um, Sister Beppa, I don't think that the Pope can do politics."- I reply.

"There's no use in lying now... if he was Pope or not, he wouldn't do anything but wash the homelesses feet! He didn't even help me get my scooter fixed! He was planning on leaving worldly issues to the children! He was abandoning our cause and me!"- Sister Beppa says.

"Maybe those abandonment issues made you break the first and fifth commandments!  You better stay here, because we may need to talk to you again!"- Carmen says.

We suddenly heard noise. It sounded like screaming, but Carmen reassured me that it was just opera singing. Not really my cup of tea. It sounded like nonsense screaming to me. I wasn't really a fan. Well, until I turned around and saw who is was! It was Fiora Tosca. The famous opera singer. Perfect! We needed to talk to her anyway. We walked up the bridge and I tapped her on the shoulder. She stops singing and turned to us.

"Hello Ms.Tosca, could you give us a little bit of insight on this picture we found? We thought you and your family were poor while growing up!"- I ask.

"What?! No! I thought I had gotten rid of everything! That photo was the only piece of living proof! But hey, nothing sells like a rags to riches story! I needed something to give me an edge in the opera world competition! So I created the little lie about begging. Father Agnelli as actually blessing my dad's new car in the photo. I guess he kept it. So I went to his old church here, found that picture, and then I tore it up."- She replies.

"Sounds to me like you were worried about Father Agnelli exposing you. I'm sure that the Pope election would have kept him a little too busy for that."- Carmen replies.

"Oh please. Father Agnelli could never! But Cardinal Salieri, now that's a Pope! He's classy, strong, and super smart. He was an actual Dante scholar. I even read his worked on Inferno!"- Ms.Tosca replies.

She walks away. Hmm, I guess some people would prefer Cardinal Salieri, but I know my choice. We walk back to the squad car and Carmen turns it on. We drove back to HQ with our seat belts on and got back in about twenty minutes. We walk out of the squad car and to the break room. I sit the sash on the table and grab the vacuum and a tiny evidence bag. I vacuum all of the weird flaky stuff and put it into the bag. There's more stuff on the sash. More writing. 'Ogni verità non è a dire!'. Looks Italian? But I have no idea what it means.

"There's more written on the fabric? 'Ogni verità non è a dire?'. What the heck does that mean?"- Carmen asks.

"I don't know, but we should probably ask Dupont. First though, we should send this to Lars about thse flakes!"- I reply.

Carmen nodded and took the sash and the sample to Lars. I sit there and wait. I pulled out my phone and played a game. I was just finishing up a level when Carmen walked back in. We sat and waited for an hour or two before I feel my phone vibrate. Must be Lars! I grab my phone out of my pocket and read the text he'd sent, 'Hey Dudette! I finished your analysis so come and get it.'. I jumped up out of my chair and Carmen does too. We walked over to Lars' lab and walked in. He smiled at us.

"Hey guys! So I ran the sample under the microscope and it was dandruff!"- Lars says, still smiling.

"Wait really? Ew, I touched someone else's dead skin!"- I reply, wiping my hands on my jeans.

"Don't worry. Your not going to get a disease or anything like that. Anyway so I comducted a DNA test... and the match I found in the system introduced me to a man named Gianni Bonfiglio. He was a member of the Italian mob, but last year he had gone missing. "- Lars says.

"Lars, we don't have any members of the mob in our list of suspects. No one would be mean enough to be in a mob out of our suspects."- Carmen replies.

"Actually you do. Only that you know him as the hot gondolier, Alonzo Conte!"- Lars replies.

"Wait, what?! That friendly gondolier once worked with the mob?!"- I exclaimed, shocked.

Dupont walks in and twirls his mustache. "That would explain why the Italian text on the sash. You see, 'Ogni verità non è a dire!'  means not all truths should be told!"- He says.

"Well the message was meant for Father Agnelli... maybe he knew about Alonzo's double life in the mob? And maybe he killed Father Agnelli for it!"- I reply, smiling.

"That could be possible, but we need to talk to him about his change in heart and identity!"- Carmen replies.

We walked out of Lars' lab. I thanked both of them and followed Carmen. She asks Ingrid if we could get Alonzo Conte back to the HQ for some questioning. She nods and gets right to it. Ten minutes later we walked into the interrogation room and sat across from him. I smile at him.

"Hello again! We just wanted to ask you a few more questions about this ordeal Mr.Conte, or shall I say Gianni Bonfiglio?"- I ask, raising an eyebrow at him.

Alonzo got nervous.  "Uh no. My name is Alonzo Conte! I... I have no idea who this Gianni Bonfiglio man is..."- He replies.

"Don't be smart with us! We have DNA that you both are the same person!"- Carmen responds, raising her voice a little.

"Oh woe is me. But Dante once said, 'The path to paradise begins in the underworld!'! Father Agnelli was the only one who knew the secret of me being in the Italian mob, and that I did terrible things. I tried to leave the mafia though and become a gondolier here in Venice, but he found out and wanted me to turn myself in to the police. I couldn't do that! Just only one person knowing could put my life at stake. I sent him that message, so he would know to stay quiet. I used my sash so he would know it was from me."- Alonzo replies.

"Well if you returned to your old ways and killed Father Agnelli to shut him up, than we'll make sure that your past catches up with you! But other than that, your free to go!"- I reply, smiling.

We walked out of the room. Hmm, what are we going to do now? I think we've ran out of leads.

"Hey Madi, we've been finding all sorts of clues to go find Father Agnelli's killer, but we still haven't found the murder weapon. We don't really have a case without one!"- Carmen says as we walk down the hall.

"Well, we could always have another look at the crime scene? We could have missed something at Piazza di Spagna."- I reply.

"That's an awesome idea! Let's go!"- Carmen replies.

We walked into the garage and to the squad car. Carmen unlocks the car and we both get in. We buckle our seat belts and she drove off to the Piazza di Spagna. Once we got there, Carmen parked the squad car in the street and we unbuckled our seat belts. We get out and sprint over to the fountain. Time to begin searching! Yay! I started looking around. I looked at the tables surrounding the fountain. Nothing. I looked in and around the fountain. Nothing, except a trash can! Trash cans are wonderful! I mean they smell unpleasant and has germs and our nasty trash, but I've seen and smelled worse. I drag it over to Carmen and sit it next to her. I then continue my search. Hmm. I left off at the fountain. Let's look at the cool stone tiled sidewalk. Maybe someone dropped something? I look down at my feet. A weird blue device sat at my feet. It was covered in tiny gold things. Ooh shiny! I noticed a small button. I pressed it and fire shot out from the top of it. Whoa. This is a blowtorch! Awesome! I walked back over to Carmen, holding the torch. I smiled at her.

"Whoa. You found a butane torch?! Here?!"- She asks.

"Well the killer had to use something to heat up the branding iron to the needed two thousand degrees! They must've used this!"- I reply.

"But if you take a closer look, there's metallic golden flakes all over it! Could you get a sample of them?"- Carmen asks.

"Of course! But only after I go through the trash!"- I reply.

"Well make it snappy! The killer could be long gone on their scooter by now!"- Carmen replies.

I nodded and started digging through the trash. I think I was up to my elbows is garbage. I really was digging in there deep. I couldn't find much, except well trash. Then I poked my finger on something. I grab it by the handle and pulled it out of the garbage. Holy crap! I found the branding iron! It's still a little warm and it had a huge 'P' on the end. I think I found our murder weapon!

"That branding iron matches the victim's burnt on brand perfectly! I think you found our murder weapon!"- Carmen says.

"Well yeah, but what do I do with it?"- I ask.

"We should probably get this over to Lars! He'd know what to do with it!"- Carmen replies.

I nodded and picked up the butane torch. I didn't have the materials to collect a sample. I'd have to do it when we get back to HQ. I smiled and walked back to the squad car. I get in and buckle my seat belt. Carmen does the same thing. She starts up the squad car and were off. I start playing with the radio. I stopped after a few seconds. High Hopes was on. Heck yeah! I started humming the melody and singing along. I guess love that song so much. Carmen rolls her eyes at me. A few minutes later we pulled into the garage. Carmen parked the car and the radio shut off. My song was over though, so it didn't upset me. I handed her the branding iron to take to Lars while I marched off to the break room. I grabbed a pietri dish and a pocketknife, which I found in one of the drawers, and began scraping tiny gold flakes into the sample dish. Hmm, they look really nice. I smiled and put the knife away once I was done. Carmen comes back and I handed over my sample to take to Lars. Now it's time for the waiting game. Yay... my favourite. She comes back a few minutes later and I sigh. I hated waiting.

A few hours later my phone vibrates. I smiled and picked up my phone out of my pocket. It was a text from Lars. Yay he's done! It read, 'Dudette, I'm done with your two analyses.'. Awesome! I jumped up from my seat and sprint down to his lab, with Carmen following. Lars smiled at us as we walked in.

"I gotta say my dude, those metallic flakes you sent me were some fancy smancy stuff. One hundred percent pure gold leaf. Gold leaf is used to fancy up a lot of things like, frames, furniture, Bibles, even boat ornaments!"- Lars says.

"Awesome! But uh, how'd it get on the torch?"- I ask.

"Well gold leaf applications can date back to the ancient Egyptians! And if it was done properly, the stuff can stay on untouched for like centuries. But decay happens to everything."- Lars replies.

"Oh really, that's cool, but my patience is decaying very fast!"- Carmen says.

"I'm just saying, your killer came into contact with gold leaf somehow..."- Lars says.

"You could say that our killer is quite, golden?"- I reply, giggling.

Lars chuckles. "Man that was good!"- He mumbles.

"Can you just move on to the branding iron?!"- Carmen asks.

"Yes of course Carmen. So I looked at your murer weapon, but uh given the heat of the situation, the killer left a part of themselves behind just for us! I ran a DNA test and your killer doesn't have much or any eumelanin..."- Lars says.

"Uh what?"- Carmen asks.

"Ooh. Doesn't that chemical control your hair colour?"- I reply.

"Yes! Eumelanin. So let me explain. You have a lot of eumelanin, Martinez because your hair is really dark. I don't have much though, so I'm blonde. The killer has even less than I do, because they have white hair!"- Lars explained.

"So we have a white haired killer huh? Well let's go arrest them, shall we?"- Carmen asks.

I nodded. We walked out of the lab and to the break room. Carmen grabs our suspects' files and we're all ready to go! So our killer drinks cappuccino, drives a scooter, knows what Dante's Inferno is, has gold leaf on their person, and has white hair... Sister Beppa has white hair and rides a scooter, but she doesn't have anything else. Cardinal Salieri has almost everything, but he doesn't have golden leaf anywhere. Fiora Tosca, she has everything, but the white hair. Mr.Conte... he doesn't have white hair or a scooter. He's innocent. Wait. Oh gosh. Brother Klaus has everything! And he's right outside in our holding cell! Brother Klaus killer Father Agnelli!

"Who is it, Madi?"- Carmen asks.

"Brother Klaus, please take him to the interrogation room."- I reply.

Carmen nods. A few minutes later, we were sitting in the interrogation room with Brother Klaus. He didn't look too happy.

"Brother Klaus! Your being put under arrest for the murder of Faher Pietro Agnelli."- I say.

"What? This is a mistake! Father Agnelli changed my life! Why would I end his?"- Klaus asks.

"Oh please,  do you really think that you not wearing your necklace would be enough to convince us your not a Promethian anymore?! You spit in his wound! We found traces of cappuccino!"- Carmen replies.

"I would never spit on Father Agnelli!"- Brother Klaus replies.

"You were upset enough to get out your butane torch! You left some gold leaf all over it!"- I reply.

"I might have just bumped into a frame at the Vatican, but that doesn't mean anything!"- Klaus replies.

"Combined with your DNA we found on the weapon used, the killer has white hair, which you have! I think it does mean something!"- Carmen shouts.

"Oh forget it! I knew I wasn't going to be able to fool the Bureau for long. I admit I did kill Father Agnelli. The Promethians didn't want him to be Pope. He was an obstacle in our way, so I removed him. A man like Cardinal Salieri would help us more. And we needed a friend in the Vatican."- Brother Klaus says, smirking.

"Well your going to need friends in jail! You are under arrest!"- I reply, and Carmen puts his handcuffs on.

An hour later we were in court. Judge Adaku was to be giving Brother Klaus his sentence. He walks into court, and looked at Klaus.

"So Brother Klaus, your on trial for the murder of Father Pietro Agnelli? You wanted to help the Promethians out? We know that they preferred Cardinal Salieri as Pope, but there's more than just that to their schemes. If you tell us everything about the Promethians, maybe we'll give you a shorter sentence!"- Judge Adaku says.

"You won't hear a thing from me!"- Klaus replies.

"Very well then. Klaus Weissmann, we sentence you to twenty five years in prison!"- Judge Adaku replies.

"I don't care about jail. My mission is done, and I don't have anything to fear!"- Klaus says.

The court takes him away and me and Carmen walk out of the court house. Another victory for us!

"This is great! Our first victory against the Promethians! Klaus in behind bars for good."- Carmen says.

"I know, but we still have to stop their plan. And unmask the leader of this chaos!"- I reply.

"Your right... one down... a lot more to go..."- She replies.

"Let's go find out more on what they plan to do about the referendum!"- I reply, smiling.

Europe In Crisis Five

We're in the break room currently talking to Chief Ripley. She's smiling, so that's a good thing.

"You've done great Madi! Brother Klaus is behind bars for good!"- She says.

"Thank you Chief! I'm very happy that we managed to do it!"- I reply.

"We already know that he pushed Johan Schnee to commit murder in Germany..."- Chief says.

"I have a hunch that he also was the one who blackmailed Enid Grimshaw into killing Prince Albert!"- Carmen says.

"It seems to me that Brother Klaus was a puppet to the Promethians. With him in jail, it must make it harder on them, right?"- I ask.

Carmen's phone began to ring. "Sorry uh, let me take this."

"Hello? This is Agent Carmen Martinez speaking."- She says.

"It's me, Jacqueline Proust! I'm calling from Spain and I heard that you put Brother Klaus behind bars! Congrats!"- Jacqueline says.

"How the heck did you find that out? Your in Spain!"- Carmen says.

"Let's call it... writer's intuition?"- She replied.

"Yeah right. Just get to your point Jacqueline!"- Carmen says, starting to lose her patience.

"You remember how I was interested in the Promethians manuscript? Well the only way I really could learn more about them, was to become one of them!"- Jacqueline replies.

"Wait holdup... you are a Promethian, Jacqueline?"- Carmen exclaims.

"Not really! I'm only pretending! I called because I think I can help you and Detective Madi bring them down!"- Jacqueline replies.

"And we are supposed to just go with the flow and trust you on this?"- Carmen asks.

"Well no... but something really important is going to happen in Spain! I don't know what it is, but Klaus does! So get him to talk and call me back when you do!"- Jacqueline replies, hanging up the phone.

The whole thing was on speaker phone, so I heard it.

"Jacqueline Proust can not give us orders! And how are we supposed to trust her when she just flat out admitted to being a Promethian?!"- Carmen exclaims.

"But... she could help us. And it might not be so bad to talk to Brother Klaus... would it Carmen?"- I ask.

"Martinez, Madi's right. It wouldn't hurt us to gather as much info about the Promethians as we can from Brother Klaus, so get on with it!"- Chief Ripley replies, walking out of the room.

I smiled and walked out of the room and to the garage. Carmen follows me and unlocks the squad car with the key. She gets in on the drivers seat while I hop into the passenger side. I fiddled with the radio until I found something that suits me. I hummed along softly as Carmen drove to the prison. I looked out at the lovely sunset. It's actually kinda nice working at night, as long as we can see what we're doing. Carmen pulled into the parking lot of the local prison and parked the squad car. We both get out and walk inside. A guard walks up to us and asks what we were here for. Carmen told him we we're with the Bureau and were here to talk to a prisoner named Klaus Weissmann. The guard nods and takes us to Klaus' cell. Klaus looked like he was fidgeting with something in his pocket. We walk in and I smiled at him. Brother Klaus scoffs at us.

"Why won't you just leave me alone in peace, Detective Madi?! I don't have anything to tell either of you!"- He says.

"That answer will not be accepted, Brother Klaus! You need to tell everything you know about the Prome-"- I start, but Klaus interrupts me.

"Oh, you just don't get it do you? It's going to end where it started, with fire and blood! Nothing you can do will stop us! We're unstoppable!"- Klaus quickly says.

"Don't start pretending to be a madman, Klaus! Your faking it!"- Carmen says.

"Your going to remember tonight, because it is the beginning of always!"- Klaus says, taking out a bottle of gasoline and dumping it on himself.

"What are you doing?! Stop that! Drop the bottle now!"- I scream at him.

"I won't, for I have made my peace with the Gods!"- Klaus replies, lighting a match and lighting himself on fire.

We both gasp. But Klaus... he really set himself ablaze?!

"From a small spark, rise a monstorous flame!"- Klaus shouts as he burns to nothing but a pile of ashes.

"Oh my god..."- Carmen mutters.

The embers slowly died and the only thing left in Klaus' place was ash. We walk out of the cell and the building and get back in the squad car. The car ride back to HQ was in complete silence. When we got back to HQ, Carmen parked the squad car and we silently walked to the break room. Carmen didn't look too good. She looked like she was about to puke.

"I can't believe Klaus set himself on fire.... it was disgusting, yet beautiful with all the colours. I've seen bodies burnt to a crisp, but I've never actually seen it happen before my two eyes!"- I say.
"I mean yeah I've seen some pretty gross things out in the field... but this... and the smell...."- Carmen replies, her face looking a little green.

"Are you okay, Carmen?"- I ask.

"Oh yeah yeah, I'm okay. But that didn't give us anything against the Promethians, and now he's nothing but ashes. I thought we were one step ahead of them, but now we've taken two steps back!"- She replies, clearing her throat.

Marina walks in the room. I think she was eavesdropping on us. She smiles at us.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that! I had a look at your interrogation footage and Brother Klaus actually told you more than you realize."- She says.

"Really? How so, Marina?"- I ask.

"He knew that he was going to light himself on fire. And that means that his stress levels were abnormally high. And when people reach their stress limits, they let their guard down and mistakes are made. For instance, when Klaus said 'It's going to end where it started, with fire and blood' it was clear that he was thinking about the Piazza di Spagna. He must have something there. And before he said that he was at peace with the Gods, his right hand was fidgeting a lot, like he was reciting the rosary!"- Marina explains.

"Uh, are you sure he wasn't lighting up the match instead?"- Carmen asks.

"I'm sure of it! Now Madi, how about we go have a look around the Vatican? Klaus was clearly thinking about religion."- Marina replies.

"Okay Marina. Well while you go look around the Vatican with her, I'll take Madi to go look around the Piazza di Spagna. She can choose what we do first."- Carmen replies.

"Come on Carmen! Let's go to the Piazza!"- I reply, smiling.

Marina smiled. "I'll be waiting in my lab when you come back."- She says before walking out of the room.

Me and Carmen head back to the squad car and get in. She drove to the Piazza while I listened to the radio. I whispered lyrics under my breath and look around outside. The sun had set by now and it was dark, but the lights lit up the beautiful city. I gaze in amazement as I watched beautiful landmarks whizzed by us in the squad car. I eventually trailed off and stopped singing along with the radio and just stared at the scenery out the window. It was wonderful... We arrived at Piazza di Spagna in no time and Carmen parks the squad car and we get out. We walk over to the fountain and began looking around to find anything interesting and we did. I was the one to spot it though. There was a carnival mask in the fountain and it had weird green stuff on it. That's weird. What's a fancy mask like this laying around in a fountain? I pick it up and show it to Carmen.

"A Venetian carnival mask huh? Why is it here in Rome?"- She asks.

"I don't know, but a sample of that green slime on the mask might help us a bit."- I reply.

Man, I really should probably bring something with me to help me do stuff like this, but it would be hard to carry a microscope around all the time. I don't think it would fit in my pocket anyway. I sigh and we head back to the parked squad car. We get in and buckle our seat belts. On the way back, I didn't even touch the radio. I stared outside at the lights and scenery we drove by. When Carmen pulled into the garage, the nice scenery came to an abrupt stop. I got out of the squad car and headed to the break room. It was bland compared to outside. I grabbed a pipette out of the cabinet and and a pietri dish. I sat the mask down on the table and started to collect a sample of the strange green slime. It was surprisingly satisfying.

"I finished getting that slime sample, but can you get the microscope? We don't have time to wait for Lars to analyse it."- I say.

"Yeah sure. I just love how efficient you are!"- Carmen says, getting up from her seat and getting the microscope out of the cabinet.

I smiled. "Thanks Carmen!"- I say as I slide the pietri dish into the microscope.

I looked into the microscope. That's weird. Is that... a plant? How did it get on the mask? I zoom out a bit. Oh! It's algae! Algae... but how did it get there. Wait... I remember now! I remember seeing some algae at the Canal in Venice! This mask must've been there at some point. But there seems to be something else in there. I zoom in and see tiny grey specks of something. What is that? I think I might have seen this before... I think this is gunpowder! That must mean that there's TNT in the sample! Oh no! I sit there in silence before Carmen speaks up,

"What was that weird green stuff, huh?"- She asks.

"Algae from the Venice canal, but there's more! There's traces of TNT in the sample!"- I reply, feeling kinda nervous.

"What?! Are you trying to say that there could be explosives in the Venice canals?!"- Carmen exclaims.

"Yeah. Uh, we need to go check this out. Immediately..."- I reply.

Me and Carmen scurry out of the room and sprint to the squad car. We get in and Carmen slammed on to the gas pedal. I was nervous. We could be dealing with a literal ticking time bomb here! We went over the speed limit and sped to Venice. We didn't even stop the squad car when we arrived at the canal. We just jumped out of the squad car and ran over there, frantically searching for a bomb. I didn't see anything that looked like a bomb, but there was a weird buoy in the canal. I jump into the water and walked over to buoy. It looks like... it has a touchscreen? Weird. I pick it up, and it was surprisingly heavy. I walked over to the sidewalk and set the buoy down. I then crawled out of the water. I take a few seconds to catch my breath. Carmen raised an eyebrow at me.

"That's a buoy... not an explosive..."- She muttered.

"I know, but it has a touchscreen and a digital lock."- I reply.

"That's odd, and aren't they supposed to act as milestones in the water? That looks... suspicious."- Carmen replies.

"Yeah, and I'm gonna unlock it!"- I reply.

I tapped the touchscreen once. It asked me for a passcode, with small hints. Heh, this is a piece of cake! I started typing in random codes until I found the right one. Okay. I unlocked it, but what now?

"So you unlocked it? Ummm wait... its not doing anything. How are we going to know what this thing does? Or if it even is linked to the explosive slime you found on the mask?!"- Carmen asks.

"Oh I know! Why don't we send this buoy to Elliot?! I'm sure that he'd find something good!"- I reply, smiling and blushing.

"I hope your right!"- Carmen says.

Me and Carmen walked back to the still running squad car. We get in and I throw the buoy in the back seat. Carmen steps on the gas pedal and we arrive back to the HQ in ten minutes. She parks the squad car and we both unbuckled our seat belts. Then we walk into the HQ. I handed the buoy over to Carmen and she takes it over to Elliot. I smile to myself and walked over to Marina's lab. I walked in and she smiled at me. She stands up from her desk and walked over to me.

"Are you done with visiting the Piazza?"- She asks.

"Yeah. We're just waiting on lab results from... Elliot."- I reply, blushing.

Marina smirks. "Oh, I see."- She mumbles.

"So, shall we head to the Vatican now?"- I ask, still blushing.

"Yes. Let's!"- Marina says, walking out of the room with me following.

Me and Marina walked out of the HQ and into the garage. I give Marina the keys and she unlocks the squad car. She sat in the drivers seat while I take my seat in the passenger's side. Marina pulls out of the driveway and onto the road. She drove to the Vatican while I was listening to the radio. I don't think I've sang in front of her before. I'm sure that she wouldn't mind! I sang along to any song I knew that they played. Marina smiles. After a few minutes of driving, we arrived at the Vatican. Marina parks our squad car and gets out. I follow suit and dash into the Vatican. The place really is pretty. Marina follows me inside. I smiled and began looking around. I looked around the alter to see if there was anything that we missed or that looks out of place. I did however see something that caught my eye. It was a golden chest laid against the wall. Ooh, something good could be in there! Maybe Klaus hid something in there? I motioned for Marina to come over and she was marvelling about how beautiful the place was.

"Did you find anything?"- Marina asks.

"Yeah. This cool looking, antique, gold chest. Brother Klaus could have left something inside."- I reply.

"Well, I'm not going to stop you from looking inside!"- She replies.

Marina goes back to looking at the art while I decided to dig in the chest. I started to take items out and gently put them back on the floor. I look around and see nothing but priest clothes. Come on, I know that there's something in here! I empty out half of the chest before I notice something. An open notebook. Hmm, maybe I can reveal what was written in it with my dusting kit.

"Hey Marina, I found something!"- I shout across the room.

She scurries over to me. "Sorry, I was looking at the paintings. But you found a notebook in the chest? Interesting."- She says.

"Well most of the pages were ripped out, but I bet if I dust off the last page I could get a good look at what was previously written."- I reply.

"That's ingenious."- Marina replies, smiling while twirling her hair.

I take out my dusting kit and flip to the last page in the notebook. I dust the whole page and notice that a bunch of black ink pen scribbles came to life. I blew the excess dust off, thinking it would make it more clearer, but it was just confusing to me. A bunch of useless scribbles. Marina watches me and her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"The scribbles you found in that notebook look like something out of my expertise."- She says.

"Maybe Elliot could help us make sense of them?"- I ask.

Marina nodded. "Yes, he probably knows what this is."- She replies.

And with that, we left the Vatican with the notebook in my hands. I get to see him twice in the span of like a hour? Yay! I sat in silence on the ride back, thinking about him and how I would tell him. I wonder what he would say? Marina parks the squad car back in the garage and we both get out. I handed her the notebook. She smiles at me.

"I could tell him for you if your so conflicted about it."- Marina says.

"Um, no thanks, I think I might tell him myself..."- I stammer, blushing.

I walked into the break room as she walks towards Elliot's lab. Carmen was waiting for me and smiled.

"Elliot's done looking at the buoy, so let's go talk to him!"- She says.

"Already? Wow... he's fast."- I reply.

"You didn't know? Now that's a shocker!"- Carmen replies.

I blushed again and we walked into the hall. We walked to Elliot's lab and I knock on his door. He answers within seconds.

"You can come in Princess!"- He shouts from inside.

I hesitate for a few seconds to collect myself. Please stop blushing.

"Open the door. Your prince charming is waiting, Princess."- Carmen says.

I opened the door and smiled at him. I sit on the edge of his desk, still smiling. He looked nervous, scared even. Elliot looks at me, and he sighs.

"The next time I get sent something about full of explosives, could you please give me a warning? Like that TNT could have blown my face off."- Elliot says.

"There were explosives inside?! Oh my god, I'm so sorry Elliot! If I would've known I would have never sent it to you in the first place! I'm so happy that your okay-"- I start.

"You don't need to apologise for that."- Elliot replies, rolling his eyes at me.

"Wait... so your telling us that the buoy we found was actually a bomb?! Someone was trying to blow up the Venice canals?!"- Carmen asks.

"Well, it wasn't really a bomb, more likely that it was a prototype. Which is why it didn't explode when it was unlocked. Someone was trying to, test the waters... But if it did... it would have been a wicked explosion, and cause a lot of damage."- Elliot says.

"But why would someone want to blow up the canals?"- Carmen asks.

"Maybe we could ask Alonzo Conte? I mean he is a gondolier... he works in the canals all the time, right?"- I reply.

"That's a good point... if anything happened in that canal, he'd be bond to know about it!"- Carmen says.

I smiled and got off of his desk. I waved goodbye to him and he waved back this time. It made me feel happy when he did. Like I have butterflies in my stomach. I walked out of the room and down the hall. Carmen follows me and I stop at Ingrid's desk and she smiled at me. I asked if she could get Alonzo Conte to HQ. We request an interrogation. She did and ten minutes later, he came into HQ and we took him back into an interrogation room. I smiled at him.

"Hello Mr.Conte. We found some explosives in the canal and were wondering if you knew anything about it?"- I ask.

"You found a bomb in the Venice canals?! Oh god, the mafia has found me! I'm doomed!"- He exclaims.

"Calm down. It wasn't a real bomb and it didn't have anything to do with you, Mr.Conte. We just wanted to know if anything special was going to happen in Venice or the canals?"- Carmen replies.

"Well, I know we couldn't use our gondolas in this part of the canals because they were doing something for the referendum. But that's all I know!"- Alonzo replies.

"Alright. So Alonzo, your free to go now!"- I reply, smiling.

Alonzo leaves. Me and Carmen exchange nervous glances.

"I think this bomb that we found has something to do with the Promethians. I mean, who else would put a bomb near a referendum site?"- I say.

"Agreed. The Promethians must be trying to get all of the votes by scaring the public! What if they planned on denotating the bomb right as the referendum started?"- Carmen replies.

"I don't know, but I have a really bad feeling about this Carmen."- I reply.

My phone vibrates. Oh, it must be Elliot. I take my phone out of my pocket and look at it. It was a text from Elliot! It read, 'Hey Princess! I'm done looking at that notebook Miss Brains and Beauty dropped off earlier. You and her can drop by now.'. I smile and giggle at his nickname for Marina. Carmen looks at me and rolled her eyes.

"I'll let you two be. I'll be here waiting til you get back."- She says.
I got up and walked out of the room. I walked down the hall and poked my head in Marina's lab. She smiles and gets up from her desk. She walks over to me.

"I'm guessing by the look on your face, Elliot's done with his analysis?"- Marina asks.

I nodded and we headed to Elliot's lab and I knocked on the door. I hear him get up and he opened the door. He smirks. I smiled at him. Elliot sat back in his wheelie chair and did a little spin. I giggle and then sit on his desk. Marina stands near us. He looked pretty bored. I look at Elliot, eager for him to tell us what he found. The notebook was sat in front of him next to his keyboard. He yawns and then turns to us, specifically to me.

"You know Madi, I really wish that you would bring me something that would challenge me and make me think! This notebook was just child's play. I swear that actually children could do this!"- Elliot says, rolling his eyes.

"I'm sorry, but I thought it looked pretty complex. I guess a genius like you would solve this puzzle pretty quickly!"- I reply, smiling.

"Um, less bragging and more helping Elliot..."- Marina says.

"Yeah yeah, whatever Marina. Anyway, those 'scribbles' you found in the notebook actually weren't even scribbles at all. There actually floor plans that were stacked on top of one another."- Elliot replies.

"How'd you manage to figure that out, Elliot? I must say that you have peaked my interest."- I reply.

"Well it wasn't that hard, since I am a genius! I scanned the notebook into my computer and managed to separate each image. And I ended up with floor plans of three important European monumemts: the Eiffel Tower, the Tower of Pisa, and the Sagrada Familia."- Elliot explains.

"Wow..."- I mutter.

"So someone was interested in European monuments, but why was it in the Vatican of all places?"- Marina asks.

"Well go ask Cardinal Salieri. I mean his fingerprints were all over it."- Elliot replied.

"You could've said that first! We've got to talk to the Cardinal!"- I reply.

He rolls his eyes. "Actually I like it like this. Is it a crime to spend time with you?"- Elliot replies.

"Well no... I mean... you can hang out with me whenever... I enjoy spending time with you too... well um, we have work to do so... uh bye Elliot. I'll um, see you later!"- I stammered, grabbing Marina's hand and walking out of the room. I think I saw his lips curl up into a smirk.

We walk out of the room and I close the door behind me. My face turns red and I feel it heat up. I look at Marina whose smiling at me.

"That was bad, wasn't it?"- I ask.

"No, not necessarily. But if you want it to stop feeling awkward, I recommend telling him."- Marina replies.

"Yeah. I guess I should... but now we have work to do."- I reply.

Marina nods and we walk up to Ingrid's desk. I'd hate to call Cardinal Salieri away from his religious duties, but we need to talk. I ask her if we could have Cardinal Salieri be brought down to HQ. Ingrid does and soon he came to the HQ. We lead him into an interrogation room and he sits down. Marina pulls up a chair and sits down next to me. I smiled at him.

"Hello Cardinal Salieri, we just wanted to ask you about this notebook we found. And you can't deny it because your fingerprints are all over it."- I say.

"Oh you found that in the Vatican did you? It's just a notebook with no pages left!"- Cardinal Salieri replies.

"That might be the case for you, but we know that it was filled with drawings of blueprints of some landmark European monuments. Do you have an interest in famous architecture?"- Marina asks.

Cardinal Salieri sighs. "I guess I better tell you both the truth. The notebook was Brother Klaus'. He gave it to me when I gave him his last confession, before he went to prison that is. I honestly didn't think there was anything bad about it. He just said that he visited all of the famous monuments he could before he came back to Italy."- He replies.

"Did he mention the Promethians at all when he gave the notebook to you? Your secrets are save with us."- I reply.

"Nope. Not even a mention of the name. I just thought that the notebook was a kind of... what do the kids say these days? A bucket list? Things you want to accomplish before you die?"- Cardinal Salieri replied.

"Actually, it's much worse than that!"- Marina replies.

"I apologise that I couldn't help more, but I must return to the Pope! It's my turn to watch over his bedside."- Cardinal Salieri says, standing up and taking his leave.

We both walked out of the interrogation room and walked into the break room. Carmen was still waiting there. Hmm. We might as well compare findings, but I already know everything!  I sit down next to Carmen and Marina sat down next to me.

"Shouldn't we combine our findings together?"- Marina asks.

I nodded. "I was thinking the same thing!"- I reply.

"Well, we were able to find out that Brother Klaus has documentation and scouted multiple monuments in Europe, and this has to have some link to the Promethians and the referendum."- Marina says.

"Interesting. Well when we went to the Piazza we found some mask. It lead us to the Venice canals. When we were there, we found a bomb prototype. We're pretty sure that someone was going to blow it up during a rally for the referendum."- Carmen replies.

"Well, it seems to be that we're all thinking the same, right?"- I ask.

"Well we know the Promethians are counting on fear to tilt the results of the referendum their way. Scaring people does actually make it easier for them to have the United States of Europe to come into the picture. People seek unity in the chaos."- Marina replies.

"And what's better to create chaos then to put bombs all over Europe?! We need to stop them! The referendum takes place two weeks from now! The Promethians could attack at any moment!"- Carmen replies.

"I know we could maybe talk to Jacqueline? She is waiting on us to call her back..."- I reply.

"I guess you're right. Whether she's a Promethian or not, she is our only inside contact, so I guess we just have to trust her."- Carmen replies.

Carmen takes out her phone and dials Jacqueline Proust. She keeps it on speaker so I can hear what she's saying.

"Hello detectives! I heard that your talk with Brother Klaus was rather heated..."- She says.

"Uh yeah. But we did manage to figure out what your little Promethian friends have planned. All of our evidence points that they are going to bomb all of the famous European monuments. The day before the referendum is scheduled to happen! If you really really wanna help us how about you tell us how to stop them!"- Carmen replies.

"Oh, so this is what all this jazz is about? Then I know what they've hidden in Spain. All of the Promethians are regrouping there! The detenator is here!"- Jacqueline replies.

"So they intend to blow everything up from Spain? Wouldn't they need people in every country to detonate them?"- Carmen asks.

"No they don't, not with today's technology at least. I swear the detenator is in Spain as well as the Promethians leader. I know exactly where it is too."- Jacqueline says.

"We don't have long to play your dumb waiting games Jacqueline, you need to just tell us!"- Carmen replies.

"I can't tell you on the phone. I think the others might already suspect that I'm a traitor! I don't want to risk it! You should come to Spain, and I'll give you money to help you with your flight. Now I have to go! Someone's coming!"- Jacqueline says, hanging up the phone.

"Dang it, she hung up! We gotta go tell Chief about this!"- Carmen says.

I nod. As if we summoned her, Chief walked into the room. We then spent about half an hour explaining everything to Chief.

"And that seems to be all of it, Chief. So what should we do? Should we really trust Jacqueline even though she admitted that she was a Promethian?"- I ask.

"Well, we don't really have any other options! If the Promethians really do want to blow up all of Europe's important monuments hen we better stop them! Madi, you and the rest of the Bureau is heading to Spain first thing tomorrow morning! Your need to locate Jacqueline Proust and make sure she tells you where the Promethians put the detenator! The safety of Europe rests in your hands, Madi!"- Chief Ripley replies.

Chief Ripley then left the room. I smiled.

"So what are you going to do tonight?"- Carmen asks.

"Um, I don't know, hang out with Elliot? Possibly confess? Maybe...I just don't know how to tell him..."- I reply, blushing. 

"Ooh! You'll do great girl, I know you will! Don't stress about it, just tell him what's on your mind and your heart!"- Carmen replies.

I nod and blush more. "Okay! I guess I better go tell him then, but let's go hang out and confess my love! Woohoo!"- I reply.

I walked out of the room and to Elliot's lab. I knocked and the door opened it almost instantly. He looks like he was just about to leave the room anyway. I blushed as he almost bumped into me. He smirked.

"Well well well, I was just about to come looking for you, Madi!"- He says, his accent nice and thick.

"I was looking for you too!"- I reply, still blushing.

"So love, what are we going to do tonight?"- Elliot asks, and I fangirl over his adorable accent.

"Well, I was going to ask if we could go on a gondola ride, but then we found the bomb... so I don't want to go out if there are bombs that might explode everywhere... maybe we could chill here?"- I stammered.

"I'd like that Princess. So, what should we do?"- He asks.

"I don't know, I thought maybe you would know what to do since you hang out here all day..."- I reply.

"Maybe we could hang out in my room? And I have just the perfect idea of what we can do."- Elliot says.

"Oh really? I'm intrigued so please elaborate!"- I reply.

Elliot smirked. "I'll tell you more about my plan when we get upstairs!"- He says.

I giggle. I walked upstairs and stopped. I don't know what room he stays in. Didn't Jack say something that his room was next to Jack's? Well I want to be sure. Elliot walked upstairs chuckling. 

"Do you even know which room is mine?"- He asks, still chuckling.

"Well, I have an idea of which one it is..."- I say. "I just want to make sure first."- I add.

"You don't have to be right all the time..."- Elliot replies.

"Well I like to be right!"- I replied.

He chuckles again. "You sure do have a lot of sass for a short person."- Elliot says.

"I am not short. You only beat me by an inch or two... or three."- I reply.

Elliot rolls his eyes. "Sure..."- He says, walking to the door of his room.

It was the door that I thought it was. See I knew it! I follow him in and I jump on his bed. Yay! Elliot looked at me, rolling his eyes.

"Really? What are you doing?"- Elliot asks.

I lay down on his bed, feeling how soft it is. Elliot's bed has a black comforter, black pillows, and a soft and fluffy black blanket. I look up at him and smiled.

"I'm laying down on your nice bed."- I reply.

"I didn't know that we were having a sleepover!"- Elliot replies, smirking. 

"Sorry. I'll sit up. So, what are we going to do?"- I reply, sitting up.

"I mean, you don't have to, but I was thinking that maybe we could watch some Harry Potter, order a pizza, and drink some beer."- Elliot replies.

"Elliot, I don't want to drink alcohol. We're only seventeen."- I reply.

"Of course. I mean we can drink soda instead if you'd perfer to stay sober. I have both in my mini fridge!"- Elliot replies.

"You have a mini fridge?! I don't have one in my room!"- I reply.

"Yep. I have some of everything!"- He replies.

Elliot walked over to the TV stand and next to it was a small black box. I think it's a fridge. He opens it and holds two sodas. He tosses me one and I catch it. I smiled and cracked open the soda can. Elliot sat next to me and takes out his phone. He dialed a local pizza shop and paused.

"Do you want pepperoni? Or cheese?"- He asks.

"Pepporoni! I mean who wants plain old cheese?"- I reply.

Elliot nods and asks for one pepperoni pizza. He and the pizza guy talked for a bit and then he hangs up. Elliot stood up and digs around in his cabinets. It looked surprisingly messy. He pulled out the first Harry Potter movie and opens it up. He slips the disk in. Elliot then sits next to me. I took a small sip from my soda. The movie starts and he cracked open his soda, taking a sip. I quite enjoy Harry Potter, but I've never read anything other than the first book. I love all the British accents. I love a sweet and charming young man with a British accent. And mine is sitting right next to me. He looks at me, and I raise an eyebrow at him.

"What's with the look?"- I ask.

"You can lie down... its not good for your back..."- Elliot replies.

I nodded and laid down. Fifteen minutes into the movie, someone shouted something from downstairs. We didn't hear it clearly. Someone knocked on the door and opened it. Carmen smiled at us.

"Did you two hear me?"- She asks.

Elliot paused the movie. "Uh no. We're watching the Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone movie, Carmen."- He says

"Come on Elliot. Don't be so sassy!"- I reply, smirking.

I was going to ask if either of you ordered a pizza! The guy's waiting for you downstairs."- Carmen replies.

I start to get up. "I'll get it!"- I reply.

"No. I'll handle it. Just stay here."- Elliot replies, standing up.

He walks out of the room and walked downstairs. Carmen smirks.

"So, how are things going?"- She asks.

"Good so far. But we just started the movie, and I still don't really know what to say... still..."- I reply.

"It's okay. I know you can do it!"- Carmen replies.

Carmen smiles at me and then leaves. I lay on his bed and wait. I was tempted on unpausing the movie, but Elliot would be upset. I heard the door creak and I looked over at him. Elliot smirks.

"I brought Pizza!"- Elliot says.

"Yay!"- I cheered.

He sits the pizza next to me and laid down next to it. The pizza was the only thing separating us. Elliot opens up the pizza box. Oh, it smells so good!  He lifts a slice up out of the box and bit into it. I grab a slice too and bite into it. Yum. I take a sip from my soda and smiled. Elliot grabs the remote and unpaused the movie. Harry and all the rest of the characters have finally made it to Hogwarts! I love this movie! Now it's time to choose houses! I giggled. I soon finished my slice. I grab another and bite into it.

"Hey Elliot... can I um, ask you something?"- I ask.

"Of course! What is it, love?"- He replies.

"Um, what's your Hogwarts house?"- I ask.

"Well, I haven't taken the test, but I would think that I'm a Slytherin!"- Elliot replied.

"Oh? I could see that."- I reply, giggling.

"Now, what about you? What's your Hogwarts house?"- Elliot replies.

"I actually took the test once, I'm a Gryffindor!"- I reply.

"Aww, I could totally see that! But, you seem like a Hufflepuff to me!"- Elliot replies, smirking.

"I... I could see that too..."- I reply.

Elliot finishes the first slice and grabs another from the box. The box is about halfway full or halfway empty. It could be thought about it either way. I smiled and sipped from my soda can. Elliot and me continues to eat our pizza, finished our soda and finished watching the movie. It was great. But now, I have to tell him how I feel. Elliot sits up and gets off the bed. He takes the DVD disk out of the DVD player and put it back into the box. It was almost midnight. I yawned and stood up. I stretched and he looks at me.

"It's almost Midnight, you should probably go to bed."- Elliot says.

"Yeah I know... but.... I um..."- I trail off.

Elliot took a few steps closer to me. "But what?"- He asks.

"I don't want to leave... I need to tell you something..."- I reply.

"Just spit it out then, hmm?"- Elliot says, his sweet chocolaty eyes softening as he looks at me.

"I... I love you..."- I whisper, blushing.

"Well... that's a relief to hear love..."- Elliot says.

I blushed more and giggled. "Really?"- I ask.

"Yes, of course.  I mean, your adorable and so cute I can't resist it anymore! I love you too, Princess."- Elliot replied.

"Yeah... I mean your adorable and your accent..."- I trailed off again.

"What about my accent, hmm?"- He asks, a smirk forming on his lips.

"I love people with British accents... I wish I had one... its so cute!"- I reply, blushing again.

"Well your cute when you blush!"- Elliot says.

Elliot reaches his hand out, and he caresses my cheek. I blush even more at his touch. It felt really good. He takes a few steps even closer to me. Our lips are inches apart. Oh my god. I looked at his lips. They were plump and pale. So nice...

"So Elliot, do you really love me?"- I ask, wanting to hear the words from his lips.

Elliot pins me to the bed and looks into my blue eyes. He moves in closer and his lips met mine. I'm freaking out. Oh, this is awesome! And his lips feel so good. They taste like pizza! I love this. I love him! After a few minutes, we pulled away, gasping for breath. I smiled. Elliot did something I never thought he even could. Elliot smiled at me! Oh my gosh! I made him smile! Yay! His teeth are blindingly white. I move closer, and my face turns red like a tomato. I stop before I kiss him.

"May I?"- I ask.

"Yes, Princess Dancefloor. I'm yours now!"- Elliot replies, smiling.
I nodded and kiss him again. It was short and sweet. He smiles at me. Oh, his smile is so precious! I love it! I smiled back.

"And to answer your question... yes! I do. I love you, Madi..."- Elliot replies.

"Elliot, can I ask you one more thing?"- I ask.

"Yes... you can ask me anything."- He replies.

"Can you promise me something?"- I reply.

"Anything for you."- Elliot replies.

"Can you promise to smile more for me? Please?"- I ask.

"Yes. I love to smile for you!"- He says.

I giggled and a yawn escaped from my lips.

"You should sleep. You can go to bed here if you want... "- He says.

I hug him and nod. I rest my head on his chest. "Okay..."

"Do you know what ths means?"- Elliot asks.

"Um... you get to prove Jack wrong and don't get to wear pink?"- I reply.

"Well yeah, but that's not what I was thinking about. I was thinking about your new nickname."- Elliot replies.

"Really? What's that."- I reply.

"Sweetheart. Your my girlfriend now..."- Elliot replied.

I giggled. "I'd like that! Well I'm going to sleep. Goodnight!"- I reply.

"Yes. Good night sweetheart. I love you..."- He replies.

Elliot kisses my head and I fell asleep. I did it! And he loves me back! I love you, Elliot Clayton!