They walked up a long hall in silence, until the mayor stopped for a moment.

"They were quite manly, now that I think about it. God rest their poor souls," he finally stated.

"Really," Dr. Crane said, coming to a complete stop to face the other man dead on. "Then, there is no way all of this could be connected to some sort of cult."

"And how did you come to that conclusion, being here no more than five minutes?" the Mayor asked, now quickly losing faith with his visitor.

"Recent studies show that it is more likely a young virgin female would be killed by a cult, rather than any man would be. Last year, in 1886, there were two hundred and twenty-six cult murders," he said, resuming his walk up the hall. "And guess how many of those killings were male victims?"

"I would have no clue, Doctor."

"None. Not one of them was a man. All of them were young girls, between the ages of thirteen and eighteen. Therefore, it would seem impossible that this is connected to some sort of cult," he said. "But, I still wish to investigate this matter, if that be fine with you. I have some new things I would like to try out while I am here."

Knowing quite well that Ichabod might be the only person interested in these murders, the mayor hesitantly agreed. And with that assent, Dr. Crane quickly went to work, while at the same time attracting the attention of the occupants of the town. They thought it odd that he wished to see were each fatality had occurred. Once at the locations, he examined each of the scenes closely, even taking samples of the dirt and nearby foliage.

While he was at the last of the sites, after collecting the soil and other grime and tying the samples up in small leather bags, a man from within a growing number of onlookers was quick to ask, "So, tell me Doctor, why do ya put dirt in a bag—what good will that do?"

"I am glad you asked, dear sir," Crane said with a slight smile. He pulled out one of the bags he had collected from earlier, untied it and opened it up to show him the contents. He then pulled a small vial of green liquid from within of one of his pockets. "You see, this dirt is a marvelous book, just waiting to tell you a good story."

He poured the contents of the vial over the specimen and the dirt within began to bubble and foam. "Interesting," he said. Looking back toward the man, he explained his findings. "You see, the chemical will only react if it comes in contact with some form of metal. But, the interesting thing is how it went from popping bubbles to a hard foam."

Ichabod now had everyone’s attention and the man asked, "So, what does that mean, Doctor?"

"It is a chemical reaction to silver, which tells me that the blade the murderer used is one made of silver," Doctor Crane answered. "And that, in turn, tells me that the killer is one of great wealth. After all, how many people do you know who could afford a pure silver sword?" he asked.