Rook

"Ever seen a mess like this before?" Ross looked at her partner.

"More than enough." The seasoned detective kept his eyes at the bloody pulp that was once a man's head. A drop of blood fell down on the mashed remains. "But you never get used to it."

A headless body hanged upside down in the alley where the two were standing, tied to the lamppost by a thick rope. The writing on the nearby wall read 'You missed one, but I didn't.'

"Any ideas, rook?"

Young detective took a long, careful look at the grizzly scene.

"Well, while we don't yet know who the vic is, I suppose it's safe to say that it was personal. Nothing was taken, so robbery wasn't the goal. And robbers don't usually crush their victims heads."

"Thought so too. And while personal, it wasn't spontaneous. Our perp wanted to leave a message."

"And if the message was meant for us, then the vic might not be entirely innocent."

"Good point. What else?"

"Well, we've got our stabbing weapon here..." Ross nodded to the knife on the ground. "But nothing that could be used to crush a human head. So either our murderer took one weapon with them, but for some reason left the other..."

"Or there was no second weapon at all. Which would mean that our perp should be strong as hell."

"Or very angry."

"Hmm... plausible. Shame we don't have any witnesses." Hughes sighed and fixed his beige hat.

"...I think we have something better than that." Ross tapped her partner on the shoulder and pointed at the building opposite of the alley. Facing them and the alley was an old surveillance camera.

"Nice catch." Hughes gave an approving nod to his young partner. "Let's go talk to the neighbours."