Trick Or Treat

It was the second body in two days.

Halloween was only a few days away. This was always a hectic time of year... the police were already running pretty thin...

Murder, unfortunately, was not an unusual occurrence in Gotham City. What with all the super villains running around town, along with the everyday criminals. But every once in a while, one of these cases show up...

A serial killer was on the loose.

This was the second body.

The two bodies shared nothing in common in the way they died. The last body had been burned to a crisp, while they were still alive. The body that lay before Kimberly Cross, however was completely intact.

The people murdered were completely different as well. The body they'd found yesterday, they discovered after checking her dentals, was a young woman named Holly Shore. The body in front of Kim was not an young, attractive woman, but a middle aged, overweight man.

Despite this, the bodies did share something in common; a mask.

A grotesque animal mask was placed over the corpses face.

Last time it was a cow, this time it was a pig.

Please tell me Old McDonald isn't going on a homicidal rampage... She thought to herself. While she was mostly joking, she couldn't say she'd be surprised if it was true...

She was inspecting the body. Signs of struggling. No obvious fatal wounds... It looks like he was dragged, he was killed somewhere else then dumped here. Just like the other victim.

"Trick or Treat!"

She turned and there stood Edward Nygma. Newly reformed private detective, formerly the Riddler.

She looked away for a moment. Taking a deep breath she walked to the police tape, where he stood just beyond it.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, trying to be stern.
"I'm here to offer my services." He replied with a sly smile, lifting the police tape to get closer to the body. She grabbed his arm stopping him.
"I'm going to have to ask you to stay back, this is a crime scene."
To her surprise, he lifted his hands in surrender. "Alright, have it your way."
She stared at him for a moment. "Okay... good." It can't be that easy...

Kimberly walked back toward the body.

"There will be five more victims."

She stopped. "How do you figure?" She called back.
"Let me see the body and I'll explain it to you."
"...Fine, but don't touch anything."
"Excellent!"

Edward slipped under the tape and walked over towards the body, but she stopped him.

"And if you try to take something off the body; I'll shoot you."
He laughed. "Very well."

With almost a skip in his step he knelt down next to the body, after examining it he looked up at her.

"The seven deadly sins." He announced.
"What?"
"These murders coincide with the seven deadly sins."
She looked down at the body. "Explain."
He beamed, it caught her off guard. He was enjoying this. "Consider the first body. The mask, what was it?"
"A cow." She replied.
"Yes, and the cow is a symbol associated with the sin lust. In hell the penalty of lust is to be smothered with fire and brimstone."
She nodded, taking in the information. "Okay. And here we have a pig mask, so... gluttony?"
"Correct! And the punishment for gluttony in hell is-" He stopped. "The mask."
"What about it?"
"Lift it would you?" He gave her an innocent look. "I'm not allowed to touch."
Glaring at him, she lifted the bottom of the mask just enough to see his face, she almost puked.

While Kim was distracted by the disgusting display Edward took the opportunity to sneak a sample of the mud on the victims shoes, then continued. "The gluttonous are force-fed rats, toads, and snakes."

Kimberly put the mask back down. "Okay, so the seven deadly sins. Seven murders counting down to Halloween? I'll get background checks on both of the victims. See if they had any connection to each other or ran in any of the same circles."

Edward stood, leaving the scene.
"Where are you going?" She called.
He looked back to her. "You have my number if you find anything."
Her face went beet red, which he enjoyed immensely. "See you around." He reached the tape and was about to lift it.
"I told you if you touched the body, I'd shoot you."
He flinched. Damn. Turning to face her he lifted the sample to her. "You caught me."

She stared at the sample, then at him. He smiled at her like a mischievous child caught stealing a piece of candy.

"Call me when you figure out where it's from."
He pocketed the sample then replied. "Of course."