Snowflakes danced under the streetlights of Star City. Detective Falcona clutched the top of her trench coat to fend off wind swirls coming from the alleyways of the historic downtown. Warm air with a warm smile greeted her as she entered Paul's Piano Bar. The bartender Victoria was already pouring the detective her usual Glenlivet 18, neat. Falcona hung her coat up, she shook the snowflakes from her long raven black hair while trying to warm up. Her dark blue sweat pants paired with a worn out hoodie wasn't keeping the cold out. She waved to Victoria as she approached the bar top. Paul's hadn't changed a day since the twenties, the nineteen twenties, an art deco lovers paradise. Falcona always did business here, it was safe and secure.

"Evening Falco, cold out there huh?" Victoria flashed her winning smile, her teeth as white as the starched tuxedo shirt she wore, a stark contrast to her fiery red hair. She'd been Falcona's bartender for almost six years, she was on the other side of twenty five but nobody knew her real age. Not even a generous tip would get her to reveal the truth.

Detective Falcona downed the drink in one gulp, it warmed her stomach up. "Nothing a little booze can't heat away. You closing tonight or are you about to get off?"

"Closing" Victoria replied as she refilled the detective's drink.

"I'm gonna be here for a while in the back booth, want me to walk you to your car after the shift? Couple attempted robberies last night around here. Getting robbed really sucks the fun out of the holiday season." Detective Falcona lit up a smoke to speed up the warming process.

"Thanks Falco. Are you gonna be around that long, I thought you were on a date?" Victoria cocked her head towards the back booth the detective normally sat at. A handsome middle aged man in a black suit was already there, he looked nervous, kept adjusting his dark rimmed glasses.

Falcona laughed. "That's Vinny. We went to the academy together, he moved onto the federal level, I stayed closer to home. I'm hoping he can help me on a case that came across my desk."

"Anything juicy?" Victoria asked excitedly.

"If I solve it I'll tell ya, like I always do. Keep my tab open and keep our drinks filled. Thanks Vic." Detective Falcona retreated to the back booth, the din of conversations coupled with lilting piano music would mask her conversation with Vinny. She sat down quickly, shooting down Vinny's attempt to hug her.

Vinny handed Falcona a large manilla envelope under the table. She peeked into it and checked to see if there were any unwanted eyeballs on the table.

"The boys at Quantico ran the other teeth, didn't get much. Only got six hits. You find out anything about your John Doe?" Vinny inquired.

"Nothing, guy was a ghost. His fingertips were cut off, nothing in our dental records for the teeth he still owned, no hits in our genetic database, a complete dead end. You want to give me a recap on this stuff before I look it over?"

"Six other teeth belong to six young women. All missing, some have been missing for thirty years, the most recent woman disappeared three years ago. Without any other evidence to go on this might as well be a cold case. Sorry Falco, wish I could help more."

"Fuck." Detective Falcona was worried Vinny would say something like that. She examined the contents of the envelope. DNA reports and missing posters of the women they got hits on. She slid one of the posters across the table. She tapped it a few times.

"Angela Barino ain't missin. She's dead."

Vinny studied the missing poster curiously, he took a sip of his martini and slid the poster back. "Not according to the federal government. Who is she?"

"One of my cold cases. Angela Barino was a junior at public high school forty four, just turned seventeen when she went missin on prom night. Boyfriend said she went to the bathroom to vape some weed with her girlfriends, never came back. Four months later her head washed up on the riverbank near the bridge. A week later her torso washed up, then her legs. Never found her arms.

Somebody had done some ghastly things to that young woman. Never caught the perp, didn't have any leads. Nobody saw or heard anything, she just vanished. That was six years ago, haven't thought of that case in a while, to be honest I don't really like thinking about it. Thanks for the info Vin. I'll pick up your tab, good to see ya again. Tell Marie I said hello."

Vinny had known Detective Falcona long enough to know that was his cue to leave, she wasn't going to tell him anything else. He'd seen that look before, she had a hunch, a mixture of women's intuition and good ol fashioned curiosity. Vinny left her alone, Vic came by with another drink without provocation, she was good like that.

Falcona put her earbuds in and called the station.

"Star City Police Department non-emergency line."

"It's Falcona, patch me through to the morgue. I don't have their number." Falcona lit another smoke while the hold muzack played. A terrible rendition of 'Two Tickets to Paradise.'

"Morgue. Dr. Parker speaking."

"Hey doc it's Falcona. You busy?"

"Not at the moment."

"Do me a favor? Email me the coroner's report for Angela Barino, case number 1076548, make sure you include her dentals too."

"Give me a couple minutes. Anything else?"

"Nope. Thanks doc."

Falcona checked her phone and waited for the email to come in. She swiped through the pdfs to Barino's autopsy pictures. There was a clear shot of her bloated, half rotted head, broken teeth sneered from a lipless mouth. Being bashed around underwater had done a lot of damage to the head, but now Falcona saw something she missed the first time around. The top left incisor was missing without any damage to the surrounding bone or tissue, like it was removed with care, not bashed out by a rock underwater.

Didn't match up with Barino's dental records, she never had any kind of dental issues after she got her braces off when she was fourteen. As Falcona swiped back to double check her phone started vibrating. An unknown number was calling. She ignored it. It called again. Ignore. Again. Ignore. Detective Falcona scanned the patrons of the piano bar, everyone looked relaxed and casual. Looked normal, Falcona answered the phone.

"When was the last time you went to the dentist, detective?" A flat monotone voice came over the line. A sinister air swirled on his words.

"Last year. Got a tooth pulled after a perp attacked me. My left incisor."

"Finally someone put two and two together. I guess my puzzle pieces were a bit misshapen to see the big picture."

"You kill Angela Barino?" Falcona asked. She took a gulp of her drink, her hand was shaking.

"I've killed a lot of people. No one seems to notice, no one seems to care. What an odd world we live in. I've grown bored of not being recognized for my work. That's why I sent you my trinkets, I knew you'd notice them. You're famous for a reason. Let's see if you can solve this one, clear your cold case files, get rid of the guilt."

"Do I get any hints?" Falcona couldn't trace the call, it was probably coming from a burner phone anyways. She wanted to keep him talking, get enough lines for voice analysis.

"Where's the fun in that? Good old fashioned detective work should prove more than enough. I'm close enough for you to find. How old do you think Victoria is?"

Falcona stood up to check on Victoria. She was still behind the bar, only two people were sitting at it, it was Lou and Cindy. Regulars. "My best guess is twenty nine."

"I think she's older than that. Maybe I'll count the rings of her teeth and find out the truth." The call dropped. Falcona packed up her things. She rushed behind the bar and flagged Victoria down. She grasped her shoulders.

"Call Johhny right now and tell him you gotta close up for the night; snowstorm, internet failure, gas leak, anything." Falcona quietly pleaded.

"What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost." Victoria smiled.

"You wanted to know about the case, well you are part of the case now. I'll explain on the way to your place but we gotta go now!" Falcona shook Victoria vigorously. She didn't want to do it, but Falcona knew she had the bait, now all she needed was to quickly devise a trap. The two sped off into the snowy night, the city slowly being painted pearly white.

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