The Guaranteed Case-Solving Method

A .22 pistol with its grip wrapped in tape, its serial number scraped off, and a baby pacifier serving as a silencer.

A bouquet of flowers lay scattered beside Fiona.

"A baby pacifier as a silencer. Cheap, but effective." Sergeant Harvey Bullock picked up the shattered pacifier from the ground. He was Mayor Hamilton's trusted man, personally called in by the mayor to investigate the case.

"It matches the previous cases," said Harvey's deputy, Officer George. "The killer timed it perfectly. There weren't any customers at the time, and the owner was baking bread in the kitchen, so he didn't see him either."

"But we can pretty much conclude that the Holiday Killer did this." Harvey Bullock nodded. "The strange thing is, he's always targeted the Mafia. Why kill little Fiona?"

"Boss, did you know the victim well?"

"Of course. Little Fiona and I used to work for the mayor together. Honestly, she was quite a looker, but she never gave me the time of day..." Harvey Bullock shrugged. "Still, now that she's dead, I do feel pretty sorry."

"I never knew you had that kind of history," George said with a sigh.

"Nothing worth bringing up. It's all in the past."

"Back to business... this is going to be a tough case to crack. The Holiday Killer's been at large for so long. Catching him won't be easy."

"You can say that again..." Harvey Bullock felt a headache coming on too. "Catching the Holiday Killer is going to be damned hard, but if we don't, I'll have no way to explain it to Mayor Hamilton."

"Then we just follow the usual procedure. If we can't find the culprit, so be it. The station has so many unsolved cases. Mayor Hamilton can't come after you just because there's one criminal