Not good, but there's worse flavors of crazy. Alex acknowledged. He'd check in with Tiny, see if there were any new people raring for a fight. It wasn't outside the Realms of possibility if they were carrying that much melee hardware.

Still, coroner first. Whether or not the body was partially eaten could be telling in terms of what did this.

The detective nodded in agreement.  Without much more to go on, Alex was free to head to the police station and the coroner.

---------

At the 1st Precinct in New Orleans, Alex was let into the station without any issues, though obviously some noticeable trepidation on some of the officer's parts.  The officer at the front desk groaned as Alex approached.

Oh, great.  What's it this time, Thorne?  Cannibal albinos in the bayou?  Cursed wolves again?  Some sort o' demonic possession?  Oh, I know... the rarest thing of all... a normal man who just killed someone, right?

Can't say anything on the first three, but sadly not that last one Alex said wryly. But I probably wouldn't have been brought in if it were.

The desk officer rolled his eyes and sighed, and then pointed in the general direction of the morgue.

Whatever.  I'm sure you've got important things to do with the corpses...

The man paused, then grinned nastily.

Hey... perhaps you're one of those so-called monsters yourself!  That'd explain a lot, actually.

Alex gave him a grin. It wasn't a nice one. If I was, you'd have more trouble than you could possibly handle. Giving the desk officer no more mind he headed back to the morgue.

The desk officer sputtered an indignant reply as Alex left.

-----

In the morgue, Dr. Lambert, the coroner - a wiry older man wearing a bloody smock - smiled as Alex entered.

Hello young man.  Beauchamp sent for you?  I can't say I'm surprised.  The bodies definitely suggested it'd end up as one of yours.

Tell me what you've got?  If Lambert already knew he'd been called it what he found must have been a doozy.

The doctor nodded, and then moved to the coolers.  He opened two of them.  The first was messy, to say the least, and it appeared that the doctor had been spending more time putting him together rather than the reverse.  The other was mostly in one piece, but he had been nearly bisected by something heavy and sharp, going down from his shoulder to his hip.  As the bodies were pulled out, Alex's gem lit up.

Doctor Lambert calmly gestured to the first corpse, and calmly began.

This one... well, the cause of death was fairly obvious.  Multiple contusions, lacerations, and a decided lack of certain limbs, found nearby.  Also, he appears to be missing some pieces, most notably in the right forearm, neck, and in the chest cavity.  Of note - we do have at least some of his heart.

He gestured towards the second body.

And this poor fellow... well, sufficed to say, it took a bit of doing to make that cut, and from what I can tell, it was done with a single strike.  Thus, I felt I had reason to expect you.

As he finished, he turned towards Alex, a conspiratorial glint in his eye, which belied his calm recitation of his findings.

The heart wasn't taken, that was fairly unusual. Hearts had a bit of significance magically and in various beliefs.

Any idea why one body would be torn up and the other sliced clean? They were two very distinctive styles after all. Anything like bite marks on the mutilated one?

Dr. Lambert nodded.

It appears so.  Most of the missing pieces bear marks that show either claw marks or sharp teeth.  Not wolf-like, though.  Mostly human, more or less, but larger.  And the heart definitely had a chunk torn out of it, too.

He paused a moment in thought.

I think the mutilated one might have been ran through with a large blade as well, before he died, but that's mostly a gut feeling.

Why would something that could tear a man apart like that need a blade in the first place? Alex wondered out loud. Carry a blade would make some sense, camouflage if nothing else (which pointed to the 'tourists' and their tendency of carrying swords. No amount of monstrous strength could make  could make a bowie knife carve cleanly through a human)

The second victim could be a case of being interrupted mid meal. But it was still off.

Dr. Lambert shrugged.

Sport, maybe?  Maybe there's things out there that even monsters would prefer to fight armed?  Psychology of such things is a little out of my area of expertise.

What about the mutilation? Was that done after death or was it the cause?

As near as I can tell, both.  The likely first wounds, being stabbed through the gut and then having his forearm broken, were not fatal, though the gut wound obviously would have been in time.  It appears that he was... disarmed... and then ripped apart and masticated not long after.  This definitely began while he was still alive.

Dr. Lambert thought a moment.

I think the one who died by being bisected actually died first.  There was a third individual there, too, but his wounds are normal.  At least as normal as sword wounds can be.

That...made even less sense.  He'd been assuming the one killed quickly had interrupted the perp's meal. But if he was killed first why wasn't he eatten? Wait...Are you telling me there was a survivor? Dammit that should have been the first thing he heard about!

Dr. Lambert looked shocked a moment, before he recovered his wits.

Oh... you misunderstand.  Here.

He walked over and opened a third fridge.  The body inside was intact, except for two clean slashes, one across the neck, and one across the belly.  The amulet flared up as the body was revealed.

Nothing about this fellow struck me as being something you'd be worried about.  He was killed cleanly with a normal slashing blade.  The only oddity was the lack of defensive wounds, but he died with a weapon in hand.

Ah, that explained it. If he was there was probably involved in whatever happened, so yeah, of interest.

Dr. Lambert nodded.

I apologize.  Most of these kinds of things tend to be self-contained.  I suppose it does seem likely that multiple people were involved as well.

And most of them with ties to the new gang in town Alex mused out loud That's my next stop If they weren't responsible, odd are they had an idea what was.

Dr. Lambert nodded.

Better you than me.  While I often enjoy the company of the dead, I have no wish to join them any time soon.
__________

OOC: I'll leave it for you when you want to wrap up the scene and move on.

Alex tipped his hat.  Sadly death doesn't often wait till we wish for it, these three found that out the hard way.

He thanked Dr. Lambert for his time and left, not even acknowledging the man at the door. He had work to do.

As Alex left the station, the sun had already started its slow descent into darkness.  The intrigues and dangers of the approaching night beckoned, despite, or perhaps even because of, the typical liveliness of the New Orleans life.

Alex pulled his hat down, covering his eyes in shadow.. He was all to aware of the true dangers in that lurked in New Orleans at night. He just hoped most of them would keep their heads down while they figured out who the new player in town was.

He hoped one of the 'tourists' showed up at the Gator.  Even if they weren't directly responsible, the timing was too neat. Someone there had answers, and Alex was going to get them.

The Gator's Teeth was as rambunctious as ever, the noise of its patrons able to be heard out on the street.  A few people were hanging around outside the bar, both regulars and a few newcomers, easily noticed by there oriental looks.  As usual, there was no real supernatural manifestations noticeable in the area.
__________

OOC: Perception + Awareness Diff 2 to notice the yakuza members are all carrying tanto knives (and the cutlery the locals are carrying, too)

The knives looked a little different than he was used to, but the way they were carried was all to familiar. Lowlives were the same anywhere it seemed.

For now though, he was keeping a low profile. He planned to order a drink and see if her heard the name Myojin pop up so he'd have a name to go with the face. If not, he'd have to be more direct.

Provided the tourists didn't start something first.