There were far more reporters than he had honestly expected for an old, unnoticeable person like Ms. Kermett, but as Vereen stepped out of his car, the deluge of questions seemed to indicate this was precisely why the news was interested.

“Who is safe around here if some innocent old lady can get killed for apparently no reason?” asked one face before it was pushed away by the mob of others. He couldn’t catch most of the questions, but it seemed that the news had grown tired of Mr. Mayor and his drug busts, and figured that a murder offered fresh interest.

Making his way through the gauntlet of microphones, he was struck suddenly by how few officers were actually there. In contrast to the great fuss all the reporters were making there was only two police men and a small mouse of a lab jocky who was heading back into the surging throng. Vereen pushed aside a quick twinge of pity for the sheepish looking man, and ducked under under the yellow tape to talk with the two men in charge of the scene.