"Do you think they've been killed?"

Maintaining a calm and unaffected exterior is exceptionally difficult, especially when a panicked boyfriend of a missing student is frantically trying to get answers out of him. Answers that Jungkook doesn't have. Until Taehyung, an undergraduate student from Burghley University barged into the department early that , demanding to see the agent in charge of the murder cases, they weren't even aware that more girls have gone missing.

"Calm down and tell me everything you know," Jungkook says instead of answering his question. "Why do you say that your girlfriend is missing?"

"I was supposed to meet her at the bar last night," Taehyung starts, collapsing into a chair that Jungkook gestures for him to sit in. "But I got there late. Like, really late. I kind of dozed off. I didn't mean to, it's just that I had soccer practice in the afternoon, and I was pooped, you know?" At Jungkook's understanding nod, he continues, "when I got there, she was already gone. There were tons of missed calls, and she left a message that she was going home with her best friend – that'll be Linda, they're attached at the hips, I swear, you wouldn't even know that I'm her boyfriend sometimes – anyway, since she didn't answer any of my calls, I thought she was mad at me, so I came around to her dormitory to apologise."

"Then her roommates told me that they haven't returned. They were starting to get worried too. It's not like Dinah and Linda to stay out all night. We can't reach either of them. That's when I thought, what if..." he trails off helplessly. At this point of his story, Taehyung hangs his head and Jungkook's heart immediately goes out to him. It's obvious that the young man feels guilty about his tardiness playing a part in the disappearance of his girlfriend.

Jungkook isn't feeling much better about this himself. Two girls in an inebriated state leaving a bar then not turning up is extremely worrisome, considering the similar circumstances that surround the girls who have been previously kidnapped and killed by their serial killer. He is at a loss about what to tell Taehyung though, as he has no information on the missing girls himself, but before the distressed student can ask him again, they are interrupted by a call for him.

It's one of those situations where he feels both relief and dread at the same time. The call provides a temporary escape from the worried man's questions, but considering the matter that he brought up, Jungkook's reprieve will probably provide the answer in the form of a news he doesn't want to hear.

Sure enough, less than an hour later, Jungkook, sandwiched between Jin and Namjoon, are making their way from the parking lot of the high school not far from his office to the school field. Memories from his own time in this place make Jungkook frown. It isn't that he didn't enjoy his high school days, but a sense of familiarity is creeping up on him. Perhaps it's just the location where so many sweet and bitter memories were made that is making him feel uneasy about it being marred by the presence of a dead body.

The only upside to this is that he managed to leave Taehyung behind at the bureau. If you can call that an upside, Jungkook thinks to himself sourly. A scowl threatens to tug between his eyebrows when he sees a number of people he doesn't recognise milling around on the school field. They approach a flustered-looking officer, who explains the situation to them.

"The school principal and some of the teachers," the officer gestures to a group of men and women surrounding another officer a few paces away, some of them clearly gawking at the body sprawled on the ground. "We had a hard time shooing the students away earlier – even some teachers wanted to stay and watch, they weren't much help."

Jungkook's brown eyes flick up to the three-story building facing the field. A number of faces peering down at them puts him in an even fouler mood than before. "What do people think this is, a circus?" He mumbles as he makes his way towards the dead girl with Namjoon and Jin following behind him.

A quick examination of the immobile form on the yellowish, trampled grass of the field is enough for Namjoon to confirm that it is indeed the work of their killer. Certainly the usual trademarks are easily seen; the clean yet cruel slash across the pale girl's throat, the simple shirt and shorts that she's wearing, the absence of shoes and another pair of earrings decorating her earlobes, but it's always necessary to make sure.

Again, the victim's hand is the source of one of the clues. Her right hand is wrapped around a pine cone. After checking with Namjoon that Hoseok is on his way to the crime scene, Jungkook bags the evidence and turns towards the jewelry that the victim is sporting. He won't lie and say that they are not the first details that caught his attention, especially when it is obvious that they are horribly mismatched.

The long, silver chain that circles her lacerated neck holds a small vial of dark red liquid. It's obviously something that has been left for them. Carefully unclasping the necklace, he hands it to Jin. "What does that look like to you?"

The miniature glass bottle painted almost vermillion by the liquid glints in the morning light menacingly as Jin examines it between his gloved fingers. "It's blood," he confirms. "However, since it's supposed to lead us to the next girl, I highly doubt it's hers." He nods his head to their latest deceased and Jungkook acknowledges his point with a nod of his own.

"Can you tell whose blood it is?"

Jin his head to the side in thought. "To be honest, I think the question you should be asking is what blood this is, not whose." With that, he drops the necklace into a clear bag and seals it. "And the answer is; it is possible with the Uhlenhuth test. I'll be able to determine the species this blood sample belongs to. If it does belong to a human, to specify exactly whose it is would take more time, which is why I doubt that we'll have to even do so."

The zoologist makes a good point; by now they know that the killer means for them to solve these clues quickly, so Jungkook doesn't argue. Instead, he addresses the earrings lacing her earlobes. "What do you make of these?"

Namjoon shrugs, having nothing to contribute, while Jin only says, "Fancy. Is that one pair of earrings or two?"

"It's one pair," Jungkook gently flips the flesh with his index finger to show the two men the two pierced holes in one of her earlobes. "See, it's a chain that enters one hole, then is looped and inserted into the second hole." Craning their necks to get a good angle, Namjoon and Jin let out soft oohs upon seeing the way the thin chain of the earring is looped into the holes in each ear. "Y/n has a pair just like this one. But that's not the point. Just look at the necklace. They don't go together."

Sure enough, even if they don't take the leaf motifs dangling at the end of the earrings into account, they are clearly made of gold, whereas the necklace is decidedly silver in colour. "The question is, do these earrings belong to the girl, or did the killer plant it there?" It is really more of a rhetorical question, as Jungkook knows that neither Namjoon nor Jin knows more than he does. However, he lets the thought hang in the air for a few seconds before asking, "That makes two. What are we missing? Was her purse around when she was