The Stone

Okay, so it's picking up pace here. I think.

Jessica sat next to Annalise, her voice was shaky. 
"Ani, we've got to... you know." She sighed, she wasn't very good with anything out of the norm. "His business and your money... Everything's got to be sorted." 
"I know." Annalise swallowed, her tears had long since dried and she'd called Jessica over to talk. "But... Should I get someone to... I can't." She sighed, her life was crashing before her eyes. 
"Ani..." Jess sighed, she pulled Annalise close. "You're so brave." She smiled weakly. Annalise sniffed and hugged her friend. 

"Thank you for coming." 

Detective Inspector Alexson looked at the body. Mr Ellis Abellona's age was difficult to tell, his birth records said he was forty-nine, he looked about twenty. He sighed, these rich people had so much money and science at their disposal. Too much. He looked out the window, down at the city below. 

It was a grey day, the fog was low and the tops of the Scum's Place houses were hidden. People would be hacking up their lungs and fighting to breathe down there.

He shook his head and turned back to the body, the man's neck was slicked open. Two swipes of a sword, or one swipe of two swords. It meant little how the man's neck was sliced open, all that mattered was that it had happened and the man was dead. 

"Boss." One of the Techies said. 

"Yeah?" 

"We found something." 
"Shoot." 

"A stone. A white stone." The Techie said quietly. 

"The Black Raven's calling card." Alexson sighed. "Right, clear up and take the body to the morgue, check for the toxins. I'll tell the family." The little girl.

Alexson walked out of the room, leaving his trustworthy Techies to tidy up after themselves. He almost walked into the woman, Maid she'd introduced herself as. 

"Hello Detective Inspector." She said politely. 

"Hello." He said, his voice gruff and quiet. "I have something to tell the family." 

"Oh, I'm afraid it's only Annalise and I now." Maid said cheerily, her voice didn't change much. 

"Well, then I need to talk to you and Annalise." He said. 

"Of course. If you come to the drawing room, I'll bring Annalise in." Maid motioned towards the room at the end of the corridor. She smiled at him and walked off. Alexson, slightly unnerved by Maid's cheeriness at this time, walked down the corridor and turned into the drawing room. 

The room was wood panelled and left unpainted. Small pictures littered the walls, mainly of the city. Someone had a romantic view of the fog; which Alexson found ridiculous, the fog killed people, took away years of their lives. The city looked quite pretty in the pictures, well, paintings. The pictures were of a woman and a girl. A beautiful woman and a smiling little girl. He was examining a picture of the little girl when he heard the voice behind him. 

"That's me." 

Annalise looked at the man in front of her. He was aged, wrinkles lined his face, he had a stubbly beard and a moustache. His eyes were a watery blue, his blonde hair was thinning and he'd combed it back to hide that. He wore a long trench coat and a suit. He looked tired and overworked, his clothes were shabby but usable. 

"That's my mother." She said pointing to the photograph of the woman and the young girl. "Father adored her." 

She sat down on the black leather sofa, still looking at the Inspector. Maid walked in and stood behind Annalise. 
"Well..." The inspector grunted. "I have some bad news." 

Annalise raised an eyebrow, what could be worse then her father's death?

"Your father was murdered." He paused. "By an assassin known as The Black Raven." 

"Oh," Annalise said quietly, looking down at her hands. "So, he was murdered by someone who wanted him dead?" 

"No, that's not how The Black Raven works. He's different to most. He'll only take jobs that he feels are worth it. But other then that, we know nothing of it." 

"It?" 

"We don't even know if the Black Raven's a male or female. We don't know anything except that it kills and leaves this," He took the stone out of his pocket, "in it's victims hands."

"May I see that stone?" Annalise asked. 

"Sure," Alexson handed it over. "It's said the raven is carved in by magic." 
"Magic?" Annalise raised an eyebrow. "There's no such thing." 

"Well then, what carved the raven?" 

She looked down at the stone, the raven stared back. She didn't know.

"Can I keep it?" She asked, curious about it's origins. 

"Um... I suppose so." Alexson said. This girl was unlike anything he'd expected. 

"Good. Well, goodbye Inspector." She said, standing up. "Maid will show you the way out."