It was evening by the time Grace and Carmen showed up to Oktoberfest and discovered the body of actor Hans Vogel.

It was one of the worst Grace had seen. He was stood up with a cuckoo pole sticking through his stomach, a ring of blood surrounding it.

"Oh my god." She finds herself muttering aloud, standing there in shock at the body.

"A movie star is now dead on our watch? This is way too suspicious...I wonder if the Promethians were involved?" Carmen wonders aloud as Grace then notices a postcard on the ground addressed to the victim along with a photograph.
"I don't see why not. They've been every other scene I've investigated so far." Grace explains and Carmen smirks as she sees the items in her hand.
"I see you're already onto something, Grace! That faded postcard might reveal something after you dust it. And what's that photo you found?"

Grace looks at it again, wanting to have a clearer picture of the photo.
"It looks like a cardboard cut out of our victim with...maybe another suspect?" She suggests, handing Carmen the photo.
"Maybe. We should run this guy's face through our database and see if there's a match." Carmen says, scribbling down notes furiously.
"Okay...before that though, I dusted off the postcard and look at this message." Grace says, giving Carmen the postcard.
"Meet me there," she murmurs, "what's with the numbers at the bottom."
"I think they're coordinates, maybe the location of the meeting?" Grace guesses.
"Hm...maybe, but just to make sure, we should hand this off to Elliot."

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After having an awkward encounter with the unknown guy in the photo—Gunther Fritz, National Eating Sausage Contest champ, traveling nudist and fan of the victim—and him giving details about a new location, Grace and Carmen returned to headquarters to have the body/murder weapon ID'd—Angela informed a wooden cuckoo pole was used to impale the victim, but he was also hit on the head beforehand, most likely with a beer mug.

Next, the two agents got in touch with Elliot and Gretta about the coordinates.

"The code on the postcard sent to the victim was a piece of cake. I plugged in the numbers written on the card and it brought me to the MGRS in, like, seconds." Elliot explains, placing his computer on his lap to check notes.
"The MGRS?" Carmen asks, confused.
"It stands for Military Grid Reference System." Grace explains, shocking both Gretta and Carmen.
"What? My uncle was in the military!"
"Yeah...I'm definitely going to have to ask you about that later." Gretta says and Elliot continues,
"The MGRS is the geocoordinate standard used by militaries for mapping out the entire earth. And...these coordinates lead to the exact point where you found your victim dead...the village square." Grace's eyes widen at that revelation as she looks at the map on the desk.

Every coordinate has been labeled on the map of Bierburg with two different handwritings on it, meeting in the middle—Gretta and Elliot probably drew them out from opposite sides.

"So whoever sent this postcard is definitely the killer," Carmen says turning Grace's attention away from the map, "good job, kid!" Elliot ignores the nickname, clearly annoyed by it as Gretta snorts at his expression.
"That's not all though," Elliot explains, "the last four digits on the card indicate a time, precisely 8 o'clock at night in military time. Since only the military uses this style, it means your killer has military training."

A chill runs up Grace's spine as she realizes that was only an hour before Carmen and her arrived on the scene.

"The killer knew exactly what they were doing!" Carmen shakes her head in disbelief, "come on, Grace, let's gather more evidence and catch this killer as fast as possible."
"Definitely. We should go to the Beer Hall Gunther mentioned. If we have anything else, we'll send it over—be good you two." Grace says, turning to Elliot and Gretta before leaving.
"I'll be waiting for the story about your uncle!" Gretta shouts as a goodbye as Grace rolls her eyes, amused.

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"How you found anything in this mess, Grace, astounds me! The Germans sure do know how to party." Carmen comments.
"Yeah me too. But a gift basket isn't so easy to hide—the tricky part was finding this torn poster."
"You think this torn poster can tell us something about the victim's visit? Alright, Grace, make it happen! And good idea about getting that gift basket, too! There's gotta be something in there."
"Thank you, Carmen." Grace says, feeling genuinely touched by the praise before she went back to business and got to work.

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"This paper is a magazine," Grace reads the front cover aloud, "'Mayoral Exclusive: Interview with Hans Vogel'. Huh...isn't it odd that the mayor herself would give this interview?"
"Speaking from my experience as a journalist, yes. Unless she was doing it for a publicity stunt. We should talk to her immediately. What was in the gift basket, by the way?" Grace lifts up basket and Carmen peers into.
"A...broken cookie? Really?"
"Not just any cookie. From the looks of it, it looks to be a heart shaped cookie—possibly homemade. More importantly, look at what it says on the front." Grace says, turning it over to reveal white frosted text that read: Hans, I love you! Love Gretl.

"Ah! This was definitely meant for the victim. Whoever this Gretl is, she was clearly in love with the victim. A broken heart is never good...even if it is a cookie."

Suddenly, a young woman with tear stained eyes, two blonde braids and wearing a traditional barmaid drindl appears.
"You found my cookie." She says, looking very despondent. Grace gives her a sympathetic look, Carmen is of course straight to the point as per usual:
"You're Gretl? We'd like to ask you a few questions about your broken heart...cookie."

Gretl answers a few of Carmen's questions and begins crying again,
"I loved Hans my whole life! I can't believe he's dead. What will I do without him?!"
"We're sorry for your loss, Ms. Beautelspracher." Grace says and Carmen interjects,
"That explains the broken heart we found. Were you dating the victim?"
"Oh words can't define the love we had. A match made in Heaven! From the moment I saw Hans, I knew he was the one." Gretl explains dreamily.

Grace could understand Gretl: she had known that feeling once, a long time ago.

"Hmph...Hans and Gretl. Cute," Carmen remakes with a smirk before continuing her question, "I don't remember him mentioning you in his interviews."
"We kept our love private. Years of intimate history shouldn't be exposed for the public. My love is gone! Now I will have the kummerspeck!"
"I...don't know what that means, but I'll leave you to it!" Carmen says before the two detectives leave the scene and go look for the mayor.

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"Mayor Nagel, I suppose you've heard the news about Hans Vogel?" The mayor nods sadly.
"Isn't it tragic, Detective Grace? Bierburg's lost its hero! Who would do such a thing?"
"That's what we're trying to investigate, ma'am." Grace replies.
"You were planning on doing an interview with Hans Vogel weren't you? A bit strange for a mayor—isn't that usually a journalist's job?" Carmen asks, coming back to the matter at hand.
"Ja but Hans was like a son to me. When he told me he had an important secret to reveal, I decided I'd do the interview myself." Both Carmen and Grace were shocked, they hadn't of this before.
"Secret? What sort of secret?" Grace pressed.
"I don't know! He was killed before he could tell me." The mayor said, frowning in disappointment before becoming sad again,
"It was going to be a big event for him and the town, but now he's gone! We will ALL miss him." Grace nods in sympathy.
"We understand, Ms. Nagel. If we have anymore questions, we will get back to you."

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Carmen and Grace were looking at a board with thumbtacks holding up clues and suspects.

Since they didn't have anymore evidence, they needed to review the facts.

"Alright, let's see if we can make sense of this. Prodigal son returns home after making it big in the movies. Says he's got a doozy of a secret to share but he ends up dead before revealing it. Gunther's just interested in sausages, while Gretl is kummerspecking over the death of her Prince Charming, whatever that means."
"And the mayor is sad to have lost her golden boy." Grace finishes and looks at their board of leads with a frown.
"We're going to have to dig deeper if we want to solve this mystery." Carmen says, clearly disappointed as she leans against the conference table with crossed arms.

Unexpectedly there was a knock on the door before whoever was on the other side got impatient and opened it anyway. Grace sighed irritably.
"Whatever it is you want, it can wait."
"No, it can't." Grace turns around, surprised to see her daughter and Elliot coming in.
"Oh, hey you two. What's up?"
"I think I know where your killer is." Elliot announces and it gets Carmen to stand to attention.
"What?!"

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"Grace, remember that postcard you had us check out earlier? The one sent to that famous guy, found dead with a pole shoved up his—"
"Yes, Elliot, we know. Graphic details are not necessary." Grace interrupts, her patients waning and Gretta looking slightly disgusted.
"I can tell you where the killer sent it from. I was really bored...so I tracked the postmark on the card to the originating postal center. I then hacked into their system to see which postal worker had on their route...and then I accessed their route logs—"
"Ugh! You're taking too long to explain," Gretta snaps, "the killer's location leads to someplace called Black Forest." She explains and Carmen looks alarmed. Elliot looks a bit put out that he interrupted her, but Grace ignores that.
"Do you know where that is?" Grace asks Carmen, who nods.
"There's an old, abandoned castle up there. Not much we could find. We should probably still go to the entrance though and see what we can find." Carmen explains and Grace agrees.

The two rush out the door of the conference room, leaving the two teens to bicker amongst themselves.

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"This is one part of the job that's always weird to me," Grace begins as she stands up, "I always find the strangest things—not that it isn't mildly entertaining though."
"Well, I'm not complaining. The sooner we get this stuff analyzed, the sooner we're close to finding our killer." Carmen remarks as she looks down at the items.
"The military radio can be cracked into which could be useful...not sure what an old storybook and a chest full of junk could do though."
"Well then I guess we'll just have to find out and start digging!" Grace replies, handing the box to Carmen as she gets to work on decrypting the radio and dusting off the faded storybook pages. Once she was done, they came back together.

"Never seen anyone unlock a radio faster, Grace! We should get it to the kids and see what they can tell us about it." Carmen says, amazed by Grace's skills.
"What did you find in the chest?" Grace asks, looking down at it by Carmen's feet.
"Dog tags." Carmen says, holding them up, "maybe our genius kid can figure it out. Elliot may be moody but he's pretty dang smart." Carmen says, handing them to Grace who places them next to the radio.

Now, finally, they were onto the storybook. It read:

'Hans and Johan, Pals Forever.'

"Looks like our victim used to be good friends with someone named Johan. They must've liked to read fairytales together." Grace nodded and suddenly, there was some movement in the grass that caught their attention.

A man with fair skin, long blonde hair, wearing protective gear and holding a crossbow stood in front of them.

"Thieves! Unhand my property!" He shouts and before Grace can do anything, Carmen pulls out her pistol.
"Put down your weapon!" She shouts at the man and—for some strange reason—he relaxes.
"Oh, sorry! I didn't realize you were the police. Thought you were some drunk tourists messing with my belongings. I was ready to shoot you."
"You must the Johan mentioned in this book then?" Grace asked, getting over her shock.
"Perfect timing! You were just the person Detective Grace and I were looking for!"
"I am...what is this about?" Johan asks, suspicious of the question.
"Hans Vogel just died an hour ago, Johan. We're investigating his murder." Grace explains and Johan looks shocked.
"Hans is dead?! We used to be friends when we were younger. We'd camp and read scary fairy tales. You know...kid's stuff."
"When was the last time you saw each other?" He thinks about it before answering Carmen,
"About fifteen years ago. He went off to become a movie star, I went off to military training—we just grew apart."
"And you still hold onto this book? Overly sentimental, don't you think?" Grace gives Carmen a warning look to not push it.

Johan raises his eyebrow, amused.
"It's got some good stories. Have you heard the story about the Black Forest?"
"No, tell me more." Grace says, genuinely curious.
"There's a dark legend about these woods. Those who dare enter are never seen again."
"That better not be a threat, Johan, 'cause if it is, your days of playing make believe in the forest are over!" Carmen warns before the two make their way out and back to the car.

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"Oh...you're still on the case." Elliot says, by way of greeting. Gretta glares at him for the insult but Grace isn't offended.
"Yep. I'm afraid I'm not going anywhere. So, Elliot what do you have for us?"
"I hacked the German military database and discovered something."
"What was it?"
"The dog tags were issued ten years ago to some guy named Klaus Weismann." Gretta explains and Grace looks shocked.
"He sounds familiar." Carmen comments.
"He was a suspect in the London case—he was monk named Brother Klaus over there...he also happens to be a Promethian." Grace explains, catching Carmen up on what she missed.
"Okay...so, wait a minute, you two are telling us that Brother Klaus was in the military?" The two teens both nod.
"Or at least...he was. He was discharged a few years ago for confronting other soldiers." Elliot adds.
"A solider leaves the military to become a crazy monk...strange. Even stranger is that we found his dog tags all the way out here."
"It's not weird actually," Gretta pipes up, "we found out that he was born in Bierburg."
"Really! Maybe the Bierburg PD can help us track him down?" Grace suggests and Carmen nods.
"I'm on it. Hopefully they can track this nut job down so we can question him."

Carmen walks away to make the phone call and Grace asks about the radio,
"Did you two find anything out from the radio I decrypted?"
"Oh...right! I nearly forgot about that." Gretta says sheepishly, turning away to grab it and place in between her and Elliot on the table.
"I was fiddling with it to see if I could get it to the right frequency and I noted something interesting: it was tuned to a German Folk song radio." Grace picks up the radio to observe it and smiles.
"Good girl!" Gretta shrugs off the praise.
"Wasn't that hard. The only bad thing was the music is kind of lame."
"Coming from someone who listens to rock and heavy metal, you would think that." Grace comments and it makes Gretta rolls her eyes.
"Yeah, whatever."

Carmen returns after she's the made the phone and Grace catches her up on what she missed.

They decide going back to the beer fest hall would be the best option.

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On the way over, however, the Bierburg PD had informed the two detectives they had Brother Klaus.

Grace got out the car and walked over to the monk.
"You again, Detective Grace?! I thought I'd seen the last of you heathens in London!" The monk sneers as she approaches. Carmen scoffs.
"Not a chance! Especially when you're the suspect in another murder, Brother Klaus...or should I say Klaus Weismann?"
"How dare you call me that name! Klaus Weismann is dead! I've transcended to the higher order of divinity!" He bellows at her.
"Are you talking the Promethians? Does this higher order ask you to murder movie stars like Hans Vogel?"
"Infidels! I'm no murderer! I'm a messenger of the Promethians, sheparding in a new era of righteousness and justice!"
"Okay, you know? Enough of this! I'm tired of your mumbo-jumbo!" Grace snaps, having had enough and getting to the point, "tell us why we found your dog tags near the abandoned castle."
"This is from whence I hail! I've returned home to prepare for the new order, subsisting only on warm beer and moldy pretzels. But know this, Detective Grace, once the Promethians take power, ALL this land will be ours!" He says, gleeful about the plan and it makes Grace sick to her stomach.
"Don't go too far, Brother Klaus! We may have more questions for you."

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They had arrived at the beer hall once again. There was a torn photo on the ground and also something that made Grace stop in her tracks: a restraining order, never a good sign.

"We should send that over to Mariana. She'll be able to find something in the database." Carmen explains after Grace has decrypted the code.
"Yes I agree. As for this photo...Gunther doesn't look too happy about losing to Hans." Carmen grimaces.
"Alright, it's your call. Let's go talk to the sausage eating champ."

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Gunther's statement didn't satisfy Grace, it seemed like it was a waste of time. He was humiliated by Hans for beating him in the contest, but she didn't see it as much reason for murder...they had to be more going on.

The two headed back to headquarters where Mariana had finished analyzing the restraining order.
"What can you tell us about the restraining order the victim filed Mariana?"
"I'm fascinated by stories of unrequited love. Or, in this case, erotomania."
"Erto—what?"
"Erotomania. It's a psychotic delusion where a person believes someone, often a celebrity, is in love with them. Erotomaniacs often send letters and gifts, even make unwanted visits to their 'lover'. They're utterly convinced that their love is real and eternal, even if it's strongly denied." Mariana explains to Carmen.
"Those symptoms sound familiar, don't they, Grace? Does that kind of obsessive love sound like Gretl to you?" Grace nods, a bit hesitant. She's a bit embarrassed that she believed the girl's love was genuine (or at least not the love of a stalker).
"An astute observation, Carmen. As it turns out, your victim filed that restraining order against a Miss Gretl Buetelspracer."
"I knew she had those crazy eyes! Come on, Grace let's find her and get to the bottom of this!"

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"Miss Buetelspracer, you weren't really dating Hans Vogel, were you?"
"What are you talking about? Are you saying our relationship wasn't real? We were in love!"
"Maybe from your perspective, but not from his. Why did he file a restraining order against you?" Grace questioned and Gretl dismissed it.
"Nein! He just didn't understand our love, I went all the way to LA to explain that to him but when I got there he wouldn't let me in. He called the police on me! How dare he! I loved him!!"

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"Well...that was disappointing." Grace says, rubbing her temples together.
"Yeah, but at least we have more evidence to go on for the case." Grace's phone suddenly started to ring and she looked at the caller ID.
"Hey Ingrid. Talk to me. Wait, what? Ugh, alright. We're on it!"
"What? What did Ingrid say??" Carmen asks excitedly.
"Mayor Nagel is missing and we have to find her. Ingrid thinks she's in the Black Forest."

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They did in fact find the mayor in the woods, although a lot less sober than they last saw her.
"Detective GrAce! Sloovey evening walk for waaalk isn't it?"
"Um...are you perhaps a bit...inebriated, Mayor Nagal?" Grace tries to be very careful with her words.
"I only had a few beers. It's Oktoberfest!"
"Mayor Nagel, I need think you need some coffee—a lot of it."
"In the meantime, we will look around for more clues."

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They found a voodoo doll that looked like their victim and an old faded newspaper that revealed an incident from 15 years ago involving the victim and two other people. Carmen sent it over to Dupont.

The voodoo doll, however, was a different story. Analyzing the threads revealed DNA and as it turned out Brother Klaus grew up with the movie star and Johan, teased mercilessly for his albinism.

Grace only hoped he didn't take his revenge too far and kill the man...

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Back at headquarters, Carmen and Grace ask the mayor about what she was doing out in the forest in an interrogation room.
"Feeling better after your drunken spree in the woods?" Carmen joked.
"Oh detectives, I am so ashamed! How could I be so irresponsible? After all my military training, I should have known better!"
"It's alright, Mayor Nagel. We all make mistakes. What Carmen and I want to know is what you were doing out in the forest?"
"I was at the beer hall listening to some German Folk music and drowning my sorrows, but I needed some fresh air. So I went for a walk."
"Why the Black Forest though? It's an odd destination," Carmen points out, "are you that upset about Hans Vogel's death?"
"Of course I am! Now...I'll never have the money for my project! My career's ruined!" Carmen and Grace gave each other a look.

She never mentioned money before. Grace thought before asking aloud,
"Money? What money? What are you talking about?"
"Hans' money! He had promised to fund my project: the world's biggest Oktoberfest theme park! But he withdrew his support at the last minute and bought a helicopter instead! I thought I could convince him by offering to do his interview but it didn't work. After everything I've done for him, he owed me!"
"So you decided to collect your debts by killing him? Money can't buy you success, Mayor Nagel, but if we find out you killed Hans Vogel, it can buy you a stay in prison!"

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"Bonjour, Grace. You've finally brought something worthy of my talents."
"We don't have time for your intellectual jousting today, Dupont."
"I see patience is not a virtue if yours, Martinez," he replies, side eyeing Carmen, "Trés bien. I visited the Bierburg archives with your newspaper to find the original edition, dating back fifteen years. The two men standing with your victim are your suspect, Johan Schnee, and his brother, Christophe."
"Wait," Grace interrupts, "back up. Johan has a brother? He never mentioned this to us!"
"The article mentioned a shocking disappearance," Carmen recalled, "could it be him?"
"Oui. Mr. Schnee's brother disappeared fifteen years ago during a hunting expedition in the forest, along with your victim and your suspect. He was never seen again. It's how the legend of the Black Forest was born."
"Hm...looks like we'll have to ask Johan about that. Thanks, Dupont. You've been a big help."
"The pleasure is mine, Miss Kemble."

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"So you've heard the story then, about my brother?"
"Yes, Johan. Can you tell us what happened?"
"What does this have to do with your murder investigation, Detective Grace?"
"The victim was with you and your brother on the day of his disappearance so yes, it's extremely relevant." Johan sighs and relents.
"Alright...if you must know, three of us used to go hunting together. We'd steal our parents' beer and come out here to hunt boar. It was our hobby. One day, I went back to get a radio out of my bag to listen to some German folk music. When I returned, my brother was gone. We just searched like mad but we couldn't find him anywhere! He just...disappeared!"

"You want us to believe your brother vanished into thin air like a ghost?" Carmen asked, incredulous.
"Yes!" Johan seethed, "and I blamed Hans! We'd always stay in pairs for protection but Hans trailed off to hunt a buck. He wasn't there for my brother! I couldn't forgive him—we went out separate ways. It's his fault my brother is gone!"
"My condolences, Mr. Schnee but if it turns out you killed Hans Vogel I won't be so nice!" Grace says as a final warning.

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Carmen let out a tired sigh as they returned to the agency.
"I'm stumped, Grace. We still have no idea who killed Hans Vogel or anything about the next Promethian plot!"
"I know...there's got to be something we're missing." Grace says as they enter into the break room.

Marina is there, intently looking at news cast. She looks up and gestures for Carmen and Grace to come over.
"Have you been watching the news? The results of the latest polls in Germany are in. It's alarming!"
"No, we haven't. Fire up the tube, Marina!"

She shows a news segment from a few hours ago.
"I'm in front of Germany's parliament where thousands are registering for the upcoming referendum which would unite Europe under one central government. Recent polls show a rise in popularity for far right extremists who are pushing for European unification. Officials confirm that should the referendum pass while the far right in leading the new united government would fall under their control. This is Cooper Anderson with EuroOne News."

"Oh god...this is bad." Grace says, eyes wide with worry and concern. Marina nods.
"Anyone who seeks to create a totalitarian state should be feared."
"I agree. I've seen what this looks like and it ain't pretty." Carmen explains.

There's a knock on the door. It's Gretta and Grace gestures her to come in.
"Has anyone seen Elliot? Thought he'd be back now." Gretta says, looking a little disappointed.
"Hm? Where did he go?" Grace asks, a little worried that something had happened.

But no, it was fine. Elliot unexpectedly appeared a few minutes later and had some news.
"Oh, good. You're back." Gretta says and briefly he says hello to her before turning by the three women,
"Hey, Grace. I just came from the square and wanted to let you know that the city is putting the cuckoo clock back up right now."
"What?! Grace, we've got to get our behinds back to the village square before they destroy any last evidence!" Carmen looks at Elliot and then does a double take.
"Are you drinking beer?!"
"Carmen, we don't have time to question Elliot's behavior right now! We have to go down to the Village Square immediately!" Grace interrupts, speaking rapidly and impatient.
"Mom's right. Oh, and by the way, the legal drinking age in Germany is 16 so Elliot is safe." Gretta points out before the two women rush off.

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"It's a good thing Elliot tipped us off or we'd have lost our last shot at this evidence!" Carmen points as Grace climbs down from the side of one of the displays, holding a CCTV camera in her hand.
"Why did you ask me to grab this beer mug anyway?" Carmen asks, holding it up.
"I think it could be the mug that hit Hans. You know, the one Angela mentioned at the autopsy. As for this," she taps the CCTV camera with her fingernail, "we could find a new way to identify our killer." Carmen beams brightly.
"Nice work! We're definitely going to finish this case in no time!"

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The CCTV footage and the beer mug were both solved in no time so Carmen and Grace decided to go to the easiest one to get to which was Lars' lab.

"Hey Grace! Did you get a chance to listen to my demo tape yet? Good stuff, right?"
"Yeah. My favorite was called: 'Where's the result of my lab sample 'cause I don't time to waste'" Carmen deadpans, not willing to put up with Lars' crap anymore—especially when it was nearing 12 am.
"Sarcasm. Dig it! Right, so the result of the sample you collected off that beer mug the killer used to bash Hans' head—" Lars paused and scrambled around for something, "darn. Can't find my notes!"
"Lars, we need to move!" Grace finds herself snapping impatiently.
"I found them! The chemical composition of the dried liquid found on the rim of the beer mug turned out to be the killer's salvia. With it, I was able to ascertain a crucial piece of information: your killer has blue eyes!"
"That's the best news I've heard all day. Thank you Lars! I owe you."
"It was nothing, Grace. Just doing job...but you could listen to my demo." She rolls her eyes and shakes her head.
"Alright, alright! Fine. But after the case is solved!"

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"Oh. You're back. Aren't you bored of this case? I am." Elliot says as soon as they enter, making Gretta roll her eyes as she sits beside him.
"Anyway, I was able to access the camera footage right before the murder—"

Gretta let out a cough interrupting him,
"Okay, Gretta helped." He grumbled.
"Thank you." She replies smugly before they continue business as usual.
"As I was saying: I accessed the footage and the shadows cast on victim's body and the clock puppet allowed me to create a wicked triangular formula. With it, I could determine the vertical axis of the murderer—"
"What he's trying to tell you is that the killer is 6'0." Gretta interrupts, again, and Carmen looks relieved.
"Thank you, Gretta! You saved me from growing a few grey hairs." Carmen jokes as Grace lets out a heavy sigh, ignoring the two.

"I know who the killer is but I don't think I'm ready to know the truth." Grace says with a frown.
"Why would he murder Hans?" Carmen asks as the two women share information that only they know.
"I don't know. All I know is that Johan Schnee killed his best friend and Hans deserves justice."

Elliot is childishly glaring at Gretta once they leave.

"I'd appreciate it if you'd stop interrupting me."
"And I'd appreciate it if you would just get to the point. We had a deal, remember?" Gretta retorts, not looking at him. Elliot rolls his eyes.
"I saw that." Gretta says and Elliot grumbles something under his breath.
"You're a bit infuriating, you know that?"
"Hm...yes. It's a blessing and a curse. But then again, I feel the same about you."
"You're terribly honest...and I don't know why I bother working with you."

That finally gets her attention. Gretta observes him for a moment, seeming to look for something before she shrugs.

"You can act like you don't care about me all you want, but your texts from last night say otherwise." She says as a final remark before rolling away from him in her chair.
"My point exactly." He murmurs to himself before getting back to work.

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Johan Schnee was arrested for the murder of Hans Vogel. He revealed to Grace and Carmen that Hans was killed to keep from revealing their secret: Christophe didn't disappear fifteen years ago, Johan accidentally killed him, mistaking his brother for a wild boar.

But he didn't just do it because he wanted revenge: the Promethians themselves told him that Hans was going to reveal their secret in his interview.

He was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Author's Notes

Here's some trivia for you: the case's title is a pun on the German word for goodbye and kummerspeck literally translates to grief bacon AKA eating your feelings XD
Finally, I looked up a traditional barmaid outfit (because I assume that's what Gretl was wearing) and it's called a drindl :)

I took notes while playing this time so I could be more organized when writing these chapters and pick exactly what plotlines I wanted to keep in and didn't have to rush anything, or least that's my hope.

I mainly skimmed some things (like I probably could've written a funny scene with Gunther Fritz but the notes for it weren't there so I didn't bother lol). But I kept all of Lars' analysis of the saliva because I loved Carmen's dialogue, it was hilarious and I had to keep them in (or it could've been from it being 11:30 at night and I was punchy, who knows?). Either way, I love Carmen, she's great (and Jack too of course)

Gretta does not take Elliot's bs and that's very much seen here. Like Elliot, I love you, but no one cares about the formula you used, we're trying to solve a murder here XD

Also she just, in general, is smart and understands that Elliot is putting up this front that he doesn't care but obviously he does (I think that's the most teenage thing I've ever said tbh. And I am still guilty of this so...yes. It happens lol)

I was going to do both chapter 9 and 10 yesterday but I was focused on chapter 9 and got so tired that I couldn't finish it til today so I'm not entirely sure when the next chapter will be.

BatgirlGeek❤️