White Night body count.

[knnn]

I don't think this issue is that big of a deal.  I noticed it on my second read-through, years ago, but never thought it was worth bringing up except maybe as a throwaway comment here and there.  Now however, Serack is looking for all possible discrepancies in the Files, so I thought I'd lay it all out formally:

So let us look at the bodies:

1.  Janine.

Lives alone.  Apparently killed by despair.   Exodus 22:18 on her wall.  This means that Madrigal killed her, unless someone wants to suggest that the Skavis killed her and then Madrigal came later.  To me this complicates things needlessly;  Madrigal is too sneaky to invade another person's crime - he would just find his own victims.

2.  Pauline Moskowitz.

Mother of two, husband, two dogs.  Note that according to #1, the Skavis only attacks people who live alone or are isolated.  Doesn't seem like his MO.  Futhermore, Butters points out that she had equal cuts on both her arms, meaning that someone "helped".  I don't see this fitting the Skavis' profile either.  Surely he would want the victim to actually kill themselves in order to feed fully?

3.  Maria Casselli.

Had a husband and a younger sister living with her.  Again, against #1. 

4. Next two profiles.

Both with housemates of one sort or another.

 

Again, against #1

5. Jessica Blanche

Killed by sexual ecstasy.  Exodus 22:18 on her chest.  Obviously Madrigal.

6. "twenty people unaccounted for since last month"

Note that the only 3 bodies (#2) found are Janine, Pauline and Maria -- all those have been mentioned above, and don't appear to be Skavis work.

7. People who weren't actually dead

There were several women and two or three very small children huddled in that cramped space

"There are another dozen at a cabin at an island twenty miles from here."

8. Anna Ash.  Pretty sure this was done by the Skavis.

Now the quotes:

#1

"In any case, one fact about the killer's victims was almost always the same; people who lived alone or were isolated."  "And I," Anna said quietly, "am the last living member of the Ordo who lives alone or is isolated".

#2

"For all three victims from within the order whose bodies have been found."

#3

San Diego, San Jose, Austin and Seattle.  Over the past year, members of a number of small organizations like the Ordo Lebes have been systematically stalked and murdered.  Counting Chicago, the killer's taken thirty six victims.

--------------------------------

There are two or three potential issues that come to mind:

1) Body count.

We have word of Anna that there are 20 missing/dead people in Chicago.  Subtract the dozen at Thomas' hideaway.  Subtract the "Several" (At least 4, or Harry would have mentioned the actual number like with the kids), and you 20-12-4 = 4.  Subtract Jessica, Janine, Pauline, Marie and the other 2 "living with family" that Harry found and you get less than zero.

So of the 20:
- 16 were actually saved by Thomas.
- 3 of the 5 killed were most likely Madrigal (Exodus and the twin-cuts from the knife), and the other 2 were living with others, so it's likely the Skavis didn't kill 'em.

Sure, you can say that maybe there were other victims that Anna didn't know about, but the "almost" community was pretty close-knit.  For that matter, if someone was really off the radar, how would the Skavis have known to target that person? So how many did the Skavis actually get (other than Anna)?   1?  2?

For a deadly creature, the Skavis doesn't seem so competent...

2) Living alone

Anna makes this whole production about being the "sole Ordo member living alone"; so much so that she is laying a trap with Elaine for the killer.  And yet, by the case-files that Butters shows Harry, two of the three members of the Ordo that are dead actually lived with others, and so did the other dead women.  Either this is a discrepancy in the story, or Anna/Elaine is leaving something out.  Possibly an extra clue leading them to believe Anna is the next target?

3) Infiltration
Note that in the count, the killer has been to six cities over the course of a year.  That gives you an average of 6 bodies per city, and two months per city.  Given that the disappearances in Chicago started happening a month ago, it sounds like "Priscilla" only had about a month to blend in.  Sure, she could have had letters of introduction or something like that to set up a persona, but wouldn't the "new guy" be under a leettle bit of suspicion if the murders started shortly after she came?  Remember that the Ordo seemed surprised that Harry knew about their gathering.  If someone is targeting their members, it means someone must have some sort of information about them.

-----------

Final note:

What do you guys make of the ten minute warning Anna gets during Harry's first visit?

"Gee," I said brightly. "What happens in ten minutes?"

[Ms Duck]

and here i thought you were going to talk about the final battle, and i was all set to snark about counting the bodies afterwards..

"1...2...2.1...2.24...2.53... how many points is a big toe worth?"

[Trebek]

I think you may have hit the nail on the head about there being cases Anna didn't know about.  It's also possible that 20 and dozen are rough estimates. It is possible that some of these victims were Isolated by circumstances even though they did not live alone.  The two with housemates could have been living with roommates just to afford a better place, or living with close friends but working lousy hours so they were never home/with those people.  It's also possible that the Skavis chose to attack at a time when people were separated temporarily, like a husband being out of town for business.

As to the Skavis blending in, I would guess that he probably set up a few of these personas in those major cities, and then just started killing after he had gotten people comfortable.  For a critter that can live hundreds or thousands of years, spending six months or a year bouncing back and forth to major cities every few days wouldn't be too hard. 

I think the ten minute warning was how long Elaine had said she could hold the veil. 

[Veritas]

in addition white court vampire can enter and exit the nevernever in places that resonate with their nature. In this case the skavis could enter and exit places linked with depression. He may have plotted out points in the nevernever to correspond with the cities months in advance thereby allowing easy travel between targets.

[peregrine]

Another possibility is that the Skavis was not the ONLY one involved in those attacks.  There might have been others in the other cities doing the same thing, and when Harry stomped them out in Chicago, it was proof that the game was up and if they kept doing it, the Council would know you was behind it, and come at them, brah.

[TheCuriousFan]

Another possibility is that the Skavis was not the ONLY one involved in those attacks.  There might have been others in the other cities doing the same thing, and when Harry stomped them out in Chicago, it was proof that the game was up and if they kept doing it, the Council would know you was behind it, and come at them, brah.

Wasn't it stated that the Skavis was acting alone to show what just one White Court can do the numbers of minor talents?

[knnn]

in addition white court vampire can enter and exit the nevernever in places that resonate with their nature. In this case the skavis could enter and exit places linked with depression. He may have plotted out points in the nevernever to correspond with the cities months in advance thereby allowing easy travel between targets.

This is an interesting solution.  It would have required the Skavis to "taste" all of his potential victims beforehand -- to instill the depression in his targets.  Also, would it have allowed to track the ones that Thomas has been hiding?

[LordDresden]

I don't think this issue is that big of a deal.  I noticed it on my second read-through, years ago, but never thought it was worth bringing up except maybe as a throwaway comment here and there.  Now however, Serack is looking for all possible discrepancies in the Files, so I thought I'd lay it all out formally:

So let us look at the bodies:

1.  Janine.

Lives alone.  Apparently killed by despair.   Exodus 22:18 on her wall.  This means that Madrigal killed her, unless someone wants to suggest that the Skavis killed her and then Madrigal came later.  To me this complicates things needlessly;  Madrigal is too sneaky to invade another person's crime - he would just find his own victims.

2.  Pauline Moskowitz.

Mother of two, husband, two dogs.  Note that according to #1, the Skavis only attacks people who live alone or are isolated.  Doesn't seem like his MO.  Futhermore, Butters points out that she had equal cuts on both her arms, meaning that someone "helped".  I don't see this fitting the Skavis' profile either.  Surely he would want the victim to actually kill themselves in order to feed fully?

I don't think it makes any difference whether the victim actually kills herself or not for the Skavis to feed, per se.  It's the presence of the emotional state of despair that the Skavis uses to feed.  A Skavis wants his/her victim to be so despairng that he/she is actually capable of/willing to commit suicide.  Whether that emotional state actually translates into physical action is probably incidental, as far as feeding goes.  A Skavis could cause the death of a despairing person simply be eating enough of his/her life essence just while they sat in a chair and despaired.

(To compare, a Raith doesn't actually have to have sex with the victim to feed on lust, it's just that that's the easiest, most convenient, and most fun way to do it, since they need physical contact anyway.)

[LordDresden]

I don't think this issue is that big of a deal.  I noticed it on my second read-through, years ago, but never thought it was worth bringing up except maybe as a throwaway comment here and there.  Now however, Serack is looking for all possible discrepancies in the Files, so I thought I'd lay it all out formally:

So let us look at the bodies:

1.  Janine.

Lives alone.  Apparently killed by despair.   Exodus 22:18 on her wall.  This means that Madrigal killed her, unless someone wants to suggest that the Skavis killed her and then Madrigal came later.  To me this complicates things needlessly;  Madrigal is too sneaky to invade another person's crime - he would just find his own victims.

2.  Pauline Moskowitz.

Mother of two, husband, two dogs.  Note that according to #1, the Skavis only attacks people who live alone or are isolated.  Doesn't seem like his MO.  Futhermore, Butters points out that she had equal cuts on both her arms, meaning that someone "helped".  I don't see this fitting the Skavis' profile either.  Surely he would want the victim to actually kill themselves in order to feed fully?

3.  Maria Casselli.

Had a husband and a younger sister living with her.  Again, against #1. 

4. Next two profiles.
 

Again, against #1

5. Jessica Blanche

Killed by sexual ecstasy.  Exodus 22:18 on her chest.  Obviously Madrigal.

6. "twenty people unaccounted for since last month"

Note that the only 3 bodies (#2) found are Janine, Pauline and Maria -- all those have been mentioned above, and don't appear to be Skavis work.

7. People who weren't actually dead

8. Anna Ash.  Pretty sure this was done by the Skavis.

Now the quotes:

#1
#2
#3
--------------------------------

There are two or three potential issues that come to mind:

1) Body count.

We have word of Anna that there are 20 missing/dead people in Chicago.  Subtract the dozen at Thomas' hideaway.  Subtract the "Several" (At least 4, or Harry would have mentioned the actual number like with the kids), and you 20-12-4 = 4.  Subtract Jessica, Janine, Pauline, Marie and the other 2 "living with family" that Harry found and you get less than zero.

So of the 20:
- 16 were actually saved by Thomas.
- 3 of the 5 killed were most likely Madrigal (Exodus and the twin-cuts from the knife), and the other 2 were living with others, so it's likely the Skavis didn't kill 'em.

Sure, you can say that maybe there were other victims that Anna didn't know about, but the "almost" community was pretty close-knit.  For that matter, if someone was really off the radar, how would the Skavis have known to target that person? So how many did the Skavis actually get (other than Anna)?   1?  2?

For a deadly creature, the Skavis doesn't seem so competent...

2) Living alone

Anna makes this whole production about being the "sole Ordo member living alone"; so much so that she is laying a trap with Elaine for the killer.  And yet, by the case-files that Butters shows Harry, two of the three members of the Ordo that are dead actually lived with others, and so did the other dead women.  Either this is a discrepancy in the story, or Anna/Elaine is leaving something out.  Possibly an extra clue leading them to believe Anna is the next target?

3) Infiltration
Note that in the count, the killer has been to six cities over the course of a year.  That gives you an average of 6 bodies per city, and two months per city.  Given that the disappearances in Chicago started happening a month ago, it sounds like "Priscilla" only had about a month to blend in.  Sure, she could have had letters of introduction or something like that to set up a persona, but wouldn't the "new guy" be under a leettle bit of suspicion if the murders started shortly after she came? 

Interesting, very interesting.  I hadn't considered that.