same location and the victims being mutilated and built the whole thing into a circus."

same location and the victims being mutilated and built the whole thing into a circus."

"In any case," Modred continued, "our investigation led us to believe that there was more than one

individual involved. In fact, as it turned out, there were two. The second one died resisting arrest, as well.

Yet, we still believe that there were more behind them. Approximately a year later, we were contacted in

relation to a series of killings in Los Angeles, and I took a plane for California to consult with the

L.A.P.D. on their investigation. The circumstances of the crimes were astonishingly similar. Too much so

for it to be coincidence."

"No chance of it being a copycat killer?"

"That was considered," Modred replied, "however, as I said, approximately a year had elapsed between

the killings we had and the killings in Los Angeles. Generally, so-called copycat killers strike much

sooner than that, prompted by media attention. And our killings in England received no coverage in Los

Angeles."

Loomis nodded.

"The scenario was almost identical," Modred continued, "however, their first victim was a little-known

actress, perhaps a prostitute on the side, that was never fully established. The police had arrested her

lover as a suspect, on purely circumstantial evidence. The man claimed to be innocent and denied any

knowledge of the crime, but apparently, he must have known something that was a threat to the killer,

because he was found murdered in jail. Literally torn to pieces inside his locked cell."

Loomis glanced at Paul. "A demon entity?"

Modred nodded. "Unquestionably. There was a strong presence of thaumaturgic trace emanations.

Subsequently, there were more killings. Prostitutes, runaways, all young, all in roughly the same area, the

district known as the Strip."

"Sunset Boulevard," said Loomis.

"Correct. The Investigation eventually led the Bureau field agent to a mission, a shelter operated on the

Strip by an adept known as Brother Khasim, a self-styled monk who ran a charity operation for the

street people of the district. The agent discovered a hidden subbasement underneath the mission,

accessible by a concealed elevator in Brother Khasim's private quarters, where the saintly Brother

Khasim kept a number of young women as enchanted sexual slaves. The discovery cost the agent his life.

Khasim escaped and went on a killing rampage on Sunset Boulevard, which led to a pitched battle with

the police, in which a number of officers were killed before Khasim was killed himself. But that was not

the end of it. The details of this were never fully made public, but it seemed that Khasim was merely an

underling. There were several other members of the cult who had established a base of operations in a

section of the amusement park known as the Magic Kingdom that had been closed down for repairs.

The authorities closed in and a mass killing was narrowly averted."

"What do you mean a mass killing?"

"The cult members were preparing to effect a spell that would have resulted in mass murder," Modred

said. "In each case, the formula they had followed was the same. They would begin with isolated killings,

gradually building up their power by absorbing the life energies of their victims, until they were sufficiently