Fables #3

 In which the boys make a big mess, more blood is spilled, and a determination is made about a missing fable.
 
In Greenwich Village, in the apartment below Rose Red's, Bigby has Boy Blue and Flycatcher simulate the crime scene. They are to recreate Rose's apartment in order to determine how much blood Rose must have lost.

Snow visits King Cole. He apologizes for her sister's disappearance and tells her he received a complaint from Bluebeard that Bigby accused him of murder. Snow says that the accusation seemed to come out of the blue but agrees that he could be a suspect given his past of murdering his wives. She tells him of the other leads they looked in on and also the fact that she's a suspect too. Bigby's final thought was perhaps the Adversary could be involved. It is possible that one or more of his agents may have followed them from the homelands to continue the war. King Cole makes it clear that he wants all of this settled by Remembrance Day. That is the day they receive all their donations to run their government. The Fables want to be able to celebrate the old days. A murder investigation could put a damper on things.

Bluebeard prepares a tray of food and sharpens his knife as Bigby arrives in Snow's apartment with Jack's computer. He tells her that he needs her to look into Jack's files because computers hate him. He says that he has pretty much figured out what happened at Rose's apartment and some of the why, just not the who part. Bigby heads down to see Jack. On his way, he tells Grimble it's Jack's feeding time. Grimble tells him that Bluebeard already went down to feed him, claiming that Bigby authorized it. Running down, he turns into wolf form and finds Bluebeard with his knife to Jack's throat. Bluebeard says he wants to find out what happened to Rose. Bigby tells Bluebeard to go ahead and kill Jack. Then he'd have reason to kill Bluebeard and get both of them out of his life.

Meanwhile, Snow is on her way down with reinforcements of her own. As they head down the stairs, Bigby is escorting Jack up. He tells her that Bluebeard volunteered to take Jack's place in custody since he was torturing Jack.

Back at his apartment, Bigby receives a call from Boy Blue about their reenactment at the crime scene. He orders Blue Boy and Flycatcher to go back and clean the place. A few hours later, he goes back to see Snow in her office. He has discovered how much blood was in her apartment. There is way too much blood there. Over half the amount she would need to still be alive.