"Detective Jack Rieger I presume."

Reiger turned to see a tall, black man dressed in a suit with long hair walking towards him. He had a tattoo of an M over his right eye, and was built like a tank.

"Who are you?" Reiger asked.

"Luthor Bishop," the man replied. "I'm a private investigator working on the Wheatley murder."

"Leave that to the real cops," Reiger noted.

"The man you have for the murder of David Wheatley is the wrong one," Bishop stated.

"And what makes you say that?"

"I did some detective work of my own," Bishop continued. "Eye-witnesses say they saw Wheatley leave the Alumni club with a young woman in her 20s. He was killed before he made it to his car."

"Sorry if I sound bitter, but what the hell are you insinuating?" Reiger asked. "A man killed the first victim."

"Alan Davis being the prime suspect and Ereland Larson being the first victim."

"How the hell did you...?"

"You'd be surprised what the Internet tells you, Detective Reiger," Bishop stated.

"But, you're saying that the second victim--"

"David Wheatley."

"You're saying that the second victim was killed by a woman. Now, unless something happened to change that, Alan Davis looks like a man to me. Are you suggesting that there's more than one killer, despite the obvious pattern?"

"It's meant to throw you off the case, Detective," Bishop stated. "I've seen this tactic used before in the past." Or the future to be more precise. "These murders were commited by the same person, and..."

"And what?"

"I've seen this tactic used before in the past."

"Or the future to be more precise."

By the Twelve... it can't be...

"I-I'm sorry Detective, but I have other matters to attend to," Bishop stated, turning away. He left Reiger alone on the sidewalk outside the police station. Reiger just eyed him cautiously as he did so.

Across the street, a homeless man watched on, a smile apparent on his face.

"My, my, my... this certainly makes things interesting..."

His eyes glowed a bright red.

Shaw Industries

Sebastian Shaw is dead. In the past, Shinobi Shaw would've been enamored by that idea. However, that was after he killed his father himself. This time, Shinobi had no such in his late father's demise.

In this world, money and power was all that mattered. As a mutant, and the head of Shaw Industries, that makes Shinobi one of the most powerful men on the planet. His father left a lot of things open-ended, everything from production of the mutant-hunting Sentinels to the activities of the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club. The Inner Circle was gone. They were all eliminated by the outlaw mutant called Cable. Sebastian perished with them.

At one time, Shinobi had entertained the notion of recreating the Inner Circle. The plan was thwarted by Psylocke and Archangel. He has since decided that the Hellfire Club was none of his concern.

"Well, well, well... what a nice office..."

Shinobi looked up to see a green-haired man with a goatee and dressed in a business suit standing in the center of his office. A portal of some sort was open behind him.

"Fitzroy..." Shinobi muttered. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Come now, Shinobi," Fitzroy stated, taking a seat in a chair that sat in front of Shinobi's desk. "Is that any way to treat a fellow Upstart?"

"The Upstarts are gone," Shinobi reminded him. "Forget them."

"So, I hear that you're now in charge of Shaw Industries... very nice..."

"Why do you say that?"

"It's pretty simple, actually," Fitzroy said, leaning back in his chair. "You see, I do plan on one day inheriting this company."

"And what makes you think you'll ever inherit Shaw Industries?" Shinobi asked, slightly amused at his former teammate's comments.

"Because it's my birthright."

"Your birthright?" Shinobi asked. He broke out into laughter. "Your birthright! Good one. And how do you figure that out?"

"Because I'm your grandson."

Shinobi's laughter instantly died.

"Well, the tapes don't lie," Reiger said. "Davis was seen leaving the apartment approximately an hour before the murder of Ereland Larson, and he returned about half an hour after the time of death."

"We found the murder weapon, too," Ward stated. "It has his fingerprints on it."

"What about the one from the Wheatley murder?" Reiger asked.

"No match," Ward replied. "That's what makes it so hard to figure out."

"Eye-witnesses say they saw Wheatley leave the Alumni club with a young woman in her 20s. He was killed before he made it to his car."

"He was right..."

"What was that?" Ward asked.

"Nothing, just thinking out loud, sir," Reiger replied. "Look, I gotta run. I've got a lead to check up on."

It can't be.

He's imprisoned. How could he have escaped? And why hadn't the X-Men heard about it? Why wasn't I notified of it?

Enough. Whatever the cause, he's free now. And I cannot allow him to continue to commit these murders. Last time, I went easy on him. I chose Xavier's way rather than relying on my XSE skills. This time, I won't make the same mistake.

Mountjoy won't live long enough to kill again.

"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" Shinobi asked.

"I said I'm your grandson, Shinobi," Fitzroy replied. "In about fifteen years, you'll have a son named Anthony Shaw. I'm his... dirty little secret."

"Bullshit," Shinobi muttered.

"By the way, that's a very nice ring you have on..." Fitzroy noted.

Shinobi looked down at his ring - the one his mother had given him years ago.

"Your point?"

"Catch," Fitzroy replied, tossing something at him. Shinobi caught it and examined it.

It was the exact same ring.

"Doesn't mean anything..." Shinobi muttered, although he knew it to be false.

"Now then, shall we get down to business?" Fitzroy asked. "The business of Hellfire to be exact."

"I can't believe I'm doing this..." Reiger muttered, as he approached the door with the words BISHOP INVESTIGATIONS on it. He grabbed hold of the doorknob and turned it, pushing the door inwards.

He stepped in to find the main office virtually empty. There were papers scattered on the desk, and a trench coat was draped over the chair, yet it seemed as if Reiger was the only one in the office. He walked over to the desk and looked at some of the papers there. There was a photograph of a man with long, brown hair and a goatee. Several pictures of him, actually. He was dressed in clothing which Reiger could only describe as possibly Victorian.

*CHK*

"Those are private documents."

Reiger could tell that the man had some sort of weapon aimed at him. He reached into his coat to draw his own gun before he heard the sound of the gun clicking again.

"I'll shoot you before you have a chance to reach that gun," Bishop warned. "Turn around. Slowly."

Reiger sighed and put his hands up before turning to face Bishop. Bishop relaxed his gun. Reiger noticed that it wasn't a regular gun. It seemed like something you'd see in a science fiction movie.

"What are you doing here, detective?" Bishop asked.

Reiger lowered his arms before speaking, "I came to tell you that you were right. Davis couldn't have commited the Wheatley murder. And right now, we're stumped as to who could've done it. You obviously seem to know what you're doing since you figured it out before us."

"It wasn't that difficult," Bishop replied. "Your department's methods are simply lax."

"What?" Reiger asked.

"Your department has sloppy methods," Bishop replied. "You overlooked asking if Wheatley left the club with anyone. You didn't get a description. The fingerprints alone should have proved that Davis wasn't responsible."

"But his fingerprints were all over the weapon that killed Larson," Reiger noted.

"Doesn't matter," Bishop stated. "Davis is innocent. He's nothing more than a puppet."

"Who is it, then?" Reiger asked.

Bishop sat down at his desk and closed up the files. Then, he looked over at Reiger.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me," Reiger said.

Bishop glared at him, his eyes seeming to utter a warning.

"No."

"You do realize that you're withholding information which may be crucial in the apprehension of a suspect."

"No, I'm not."

"And why do you say that?"

"Because the information I have won't help you apprehend your suspect."

"How do you know?"

"You can't apprehend him. You won't even know you've found him until he kills you. Now get out of my office."

Reiger looked at Bishop for a few moments, then turned towards the door.

"This isn't over."

*SLAM*

"I know."

Shorty's

"There you go," Pam said, placing a bill on the table.

"Thank you," the man replied. He was dressed in ratty clothes. Pam could've sworn she saw him on the street just the other day. He touched her hand, and she pulled back.

"What's your problem?" she demanded.

"Huh?" the man asked. "What are you talking about?"

"I dunno..." Pam replied. "I don't feel too good..."

She stumbled away from the table, and walked out the door.

{{ Mountjoy? Goddess, tell me you're kidding, Bishop. }}

"Afraid not, Storm," Bishop replied. "Why wasn't I informed that he's on the loose?"

{{ We weren't aware of it, either. }}

"And now he's in Chicago..." Bishop muttered.

{{ Why is it that you contacted us and not your former teammates? }}

"I scanned the press conference Worthington held earlier. If he is alive, then there's no doubt in my mind that the rest of the X-Men are as well. Where they are, however, is another question."

{{ Listen Bishop, Mountjoy is a formidable adversary. And with the loss of your powers-- }}

"Stop right there," Bishop stated. "The loss of my powers hasn't handicapped me. I'm perfectly capable of dealing with Mountjoy."

{{ Are you... }}

Bishop noticed someone approaching his door.

"This conversation is over, Storm. I have a visitor."

He terminated the connection just as the door to his office opened. Pam stood at the entrance.

"Hello Bishop," she stated. "I was hoping that we could..."

"That we could what?" Bishop asked, turning away from her for a moment. Pam's eyes began to glow as her hand slipped into her coat and her fingers wrapped around the handle of a knife.

"That we could... talk."

NEXT ISSUE: The conclusion of Murder One as Bishop and Mountjoy face off against each other!

I would really like to see this book moved to the Knights branch. It would be a bold move on Dino's part, illustrating once and for all to anyone who hasn't read the book yet that this is NOT the standard mutie fare. Just a thought...

I enjoyed Bishop's insights into the workings of our world vs. his own (the changes in the Internet, the different methods of dealing with dead bodies, etc.) probably more than any other part of the issue. These little tidbits are what give this normally vapid character his occassional flashes of intrigue. I dig it. If nothing else, Dino has a handle on the things that potentially make Bishop cool.

I would like to see a little more detective work and mystery in this title, though. Bishop's examination of Wheatley's body was unnecessarily truncated, I thought. In comparison, the brief scene showing Lambert fingering the suspect from one of the killings didn't have to be in there at all.

The Verdict:

An interesting take on what I would normally consider a character not worth my time in following. The character interaction is good, and I'm looking forward to Bish's first meeting with Det. Reiger, but I would like to see a little more deduction and digging on Bishop's part.

-Russ Anderson

I won't be moving the book to the Knights imprint for two reasons.
1) Bishop is an X-Men character, first and foremost. And it's my opinion that the X-Men titles should have just as much diversity as Marvel Knights.
2) I already write half the books in the Knights imprint.

I'm glad you enjoyed Bishop's comparisons between this era and his own. A lot of things writers seem to forget (especially a Certain Creator) is that Bishop is indeed a man out of time, regardless of how long he's been here. I'm gonna be addressing things like that in the future.

As for the detective work and mystery, you're right. I could use a little more of that. As I stated in my afterword of the first issue, I'm not a crime writer and I'm basically diving into uncharted waters here. I've been trying my best to try to familiarize myself with that genre as best as humanly possible so I'll have more of an idea of what I'm actually trying to do. As you can probably tell in this issue, having Lambert fingering the suspect had a purpose. If you didn't see it in this issue, then by the next issue, you should understand it.