The two men waited, leaving the corpse in situ until the forensics team arrived, before reporting to UNCLE Headquarters.  Solo was assured by the team leader a preliminary report would be on his desk within 24 hours, and he in turn assured his vampiric counterpart the team was knowledgeable
in the nuances of nonhuman pathology.

Since the Del Floria's entrance was closed they used the Mask club entrance instead, and were instructed to report directly to Sir John Raleigh's office.  When they arrived the head of UNCLE North America handed each man a leather-bound folder.

"Reports from the agents finding Kowalski, as well as preliminary forensics," Sir John said.  "Autopsy reports and detailed forensics will be forwarded to you as soon as they're finished.  There are also agents going over his apartment -- which, incidentally, he shared with the victim you found --with the proverbial fine-tooth comb foor any leads."

"Forgive me for asking," Kuryakin said, "but exactly how many people in your organization knew Kowalski had a vampire lover?"

The implication wasn't lost on either of the other men in the room. "Very few," Sir John replied.  "Only the Chiefs of Security and Personnel, and the head of Medical.  I didn't know myself until I heard it from the Security Chief."  Neither man mentioned the special protocols which had gone into effect after Kolwalski's body had been found, to insure UNCLE's internal security.

"Plus anyone who had access to those records," the vampire pointed out.  He turned to Solo.  "You didn't know?"

"We hadn't been partners long -- only since my promotion to Chief Enforcement Officer," he said.  "It wasn't necessary for me to know his sexual preferences to work with him, but I would hope he would have mentioned it eventually."

"As for the records," the UNCLE head put in, "the relevant Section Heads have special encryption codes which are buried in the individual records and require simultaneous voice, retinal, and footprint identification, with weight sensors in the foot scan device, to access.  If the weight varies by more than 5 lbs., the record is sealed until the variation is cleared by Medical."

"There's no central list?" Kuryakin asked.

"It's not something we'd want on a single list, for security purposes," Sir John informed him.  "That kind of information is too volatile, and one of the things we watch for is an individual making such lists -- they usually need to be terminated with extreme prejudice.  Even we're not infallible, and any organization which thinks it is will discover themselves wrong."  He cleared his throat preparatory to returning to the matter at hand.  "I realize what you have in your hands is preliminary, but do you have any theories on who might be doing this, and how we can stop them?"

The vampire noted the use of the plural pronoun with approval.  From their own forensic investigations it had been noted there were at least two killers, possibly more.  "It's likely we're dealing with a group rather than an individual with accomplices.  The wounds are too precise to be the work of an enraged or sadistic sociopath, and there's no escalation of damage inflicted.  The wounds are nearly identical in all cases; almost workmanlike.  Despite what is carved into certain victims, there's really nothing to indicate an intense emotion associated with the killings."
 
 
 

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