Horrific Murder

A recent, gruesome murder can be found within Shadowdale territory, just behind the Shadowdale Flats. The victim is a young woman, her clothes tattered, and her limbs are nearly cut right from their proper places, lacerated to allow a freedom of flexibility that would otherwise be unnatural. The numerous slices on the woman's body are deep, as though a large man tried to use a small knife in an experiment, seeking to cut the woman in two with such a blade.

The scene is terribly bloody, the body pale from being near-completely drained of blood, and it is bent into an unnatural posture, heading nearly cut from the cut to tilt it back in a horrifying second grin. Posed to appear as the letter "I," a wrist is broken to give the appearance of an apostrophe, and the bloody shreds of cloth and flesh are arranged to a stylized "M."



Further investigation shows a stain on the back of the victim's shirt, untouched behind, but when lifted, one would see a simple smiley face drawn in blood on the victim's bare skin. Smaller details, such as the reddened lines around her neck, indicate that perhaps she wore a necklace that was ripped away; there are no signs as to the woman's identity.

Getting back into town a day later, Wakefield quickly hears the news of the horrific murder so close to his office. It's not long before he starts asking around the Zhentarim Barracks for permission to start looking into things... and also renewing his suggestions to look into the Katelle family more closely.

Alisyn is at Wakefield's side during his initial investigation of the crime scene, aiding him where she can, gingerly avoiding messing anything up - Wakefield was the detective, after all, and she wouldn't want to be blamed for letting a murderer get free...