The list had been made. Six names. But only four of them were easy to strike down. The nurse, the soldier, the boyfriend, and Kjell.

The first three were obvious. They were unnamed, so obviously, their entire purpose was to give clues. They weren't big actors in the story, after all. But they were just the first targets, the easy ones.

Those four had been spotted around Lily. Brief conversations. Casual exchanges. Perfect candidates for the first round of interviews.

The soldier, Myra was first.

Two calls later, and she agreed to come in. She had been a patient of Erdmann's at one point. They still kept a good relationship. Maybe not the kind of relationship you'd expect between a doctor and a patient, but close enough to make it comfortable. Now, here they were, sitting in the sterile interrogation room. Lily's blood still stained the ground beneath them, dark and sticky.

A little light, embedded in the ceiling overhead, cast a yellow glow. It was different from every other light in the shelter. A psychological tactic.

Robert Hase, was standing at the far end of the room. His posture was rigid. His eyes sharp but distant.

Erdmann was seated, leaning casually in his chair.

And Myra—Myra was tall. Close to six feet. Blonde, though some of her hair was missing, her scalp was damaged from the fungus. A hat covered the worst of it, yet it showed. She sat casually, not wearing her military uniform. It was required by shelter rules. She did not follow them. Instead, she wore a simple shirt, maybe she had become a normal person after all.

She sat across from them, waiting for the first question.

Erdmann pressed the button on the recorder.

"state your name." Erdmann said.

"Myra Moans. M-Y-R-A M-O-A-N-S."

"What is your role?"

Myra took a deep breath before answering. "I was a soldier tasked with securing the residents of the Octocore."

"All right," Erdmann continued. "and what's your affiliation with Lily wruk?"

"She is a friend. I... I don't know if I can even call her that. We've been getting close for the past month or so, you know, after the fungus and all."

"You know, Lily is a sweet girl," she continued, her tone now far more intimate, almost protective. "She couldn't have done what you say she did. You must be mistaken."

"That's what we're here to figure out." he said after a pause.

Robert Hase stepped forward, his voice was harsh. "Has she been meeting anyone more frequently in the past two weeks?"

Myra's eyes flickered toward Robert, then back at Erdmann. She hesitated for a moment. "I wouldn't say so. I've noticed she's been meeting with a few people lately, obviously. After all she's been through... her friend is dead, obviously. It's natural, right?" Myra's gaze softened as she spoke about Lily. "You know, she's just an innocent girl. I don't think she can survive without friends."

Her words were tinged with a kind of sadness. Myra's face—though still beautiful in a broken way—bore the marks of its past. Her eyes seemed to hold a history of violence and pain, but her words were full of warmth, an unexpected tenderness.

Erdmann reached into his coat pocket, pulling out his tablet. He unlocked it quickly and brought up a picture. It showed Lukas, captured in a moment of grim resolve. He turned the screen toward Myra and asked, "Have you seen this man around Lili?"

Myra focused on the screen before she nodded slowly. "I remember him." she said. "I remember seeing him, but never close to Lili. He never got close to anyone, really. I don't think he's mentally stable, if you ask me."

She paused, thinking her words. "He's a loner. That's what we call it. A soldier who never really recovered."

Erdmann took in the information. "Have you any memories of what he was like when he was in service?"

Myra looked thoughtful for a moment. "Not really. I don't know every other soldier. We were in two different units."

"Has Lili been meeting with anyone with an upgraded arm?" Robert asked.

"Yes," she said slowly. "there was one man. Young man, 5'9" or 5'10". Maybe 25, 26, I don't know. He had a few upgrades she's been meeting him."

"A few upgrades?" Robert asked again, slightly sharper. "No, no, no," he corrected. "Just one upgrade. One upgraded hand."

She trailed off. "Not just one. He he definitely had more, I'm sure of it. Both hands, upgraded. From the middle of the forearms. And I believe a leg also. So he had at least three upgrades, maybe more."

"Three upgrades?" Robert wondered. "Anything else you noticed about him?"

Myra nodded, her gaze flicking trying to recall more details. "He used to smoke, a lot. A strange brand, with a really unique smell."

"The cigarettes. What did they look like?" Hase asked.

Myra tapped her temple, thinking. "Dark. Very dark. Almost completely black. With, uh, I think golden rings around them. Fancy ones. Maybe, two or three, I don't remember."

Hase didn't respond. Instead, he reached over, took the tablet from Erdmann, swiped until he reached the image he wanted—the list. Six faces, six names. He turned the screen toward Myra "Do you recognize him on this list?"

Her finger floated for just a moment, then dropped. "That's him." she said, tapping the screen. "Miroslav. That hair. It was definetly him."

Hase's eyes locked with Erdmann's for a beat before flicking back to Myra. "Did you hear what they were talking about? Him and Lili?"

"They were talking about the murders." she said flatly. "Obviously. I think the guy was investigating. He's been asking her questions, just like what you're doing now. He came a few times—every two or three days maybe. Always asked her where she was, what she'd been doing. It was strange, yeah. I didn't catch everything, but that was the gist."

Outside

"This is it." Robert said. "This is our clue. This is the guy."

"No." Erdmann said, quickly. "No, it's not."

"Excuse me?"

"He's just a kid who's seen too many movies and wanted to play detective with his friend. I've spoken to him before. He's not our killer. I know that for sure."

"You've spoken to him?" Robert asked.

Erdmann nodded. "Yeah. Twice."

"Why didn't I know that?" he asked. "Why the hell wouldn't you give me that information?"

"I didn't think it was relevant." Erdmann said. "I didn't feel a need. It just wasn't important."

Robert scoffed—sharp, bitter. "Not important?" His voice was loud. "This could be our killer. This could be the one person who knows what happened, and you—Jesus Christ—you could've been feeding him information without even knowing it!"

"I'm sorry, boss." Erdmann said, eyes looking down, ashamed—almost. "I didn't mean to. We'll i dunno... detain him when we find him?"

"Yeah." Robert said, exhaling through his nose like he was trying not to explode. "Yeah. Let's go to the next one on the list."

They didn't look at each other as they walked.

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