The Regional Preternatural Investigation Taskforce (RPIT, usually pronounced "Rip-It") is an extention of the St. Louis Police Department charged with keeping the peace between the human and supernatural communities by investigating all crimes with a supernatural aspect, and apprehending and/or exterminating the guilty parties. It has only recently been formed, largely as a half-hearted effort to placate the liberals and the press after the groundbreaking Addison vs. Clark case. Its remit is to investigate all supernatural crimes, whether it be commited against humans or against the supernatural biengs themselves, including Vampires, Lycanthropes, Zombies, Ghouls, and more. Derogatorily known as the "Spook Squad", it is not considered a positive career move to join it, and it is comprised mostly of police officers who have aggravated their superiors in some way or another.

Contents 1 History 2 Known Members 2.1 Leader 3 RPIT Cases 3.1 Guilty Pleasures 3.2 The Laughing Corpse 3.3 Circus of the Damned 3.4 The Lunatic Café 3.5 The Killing Dance 3.6 Burned Offerings 3.7 Narcissus in Chains 3.8 Cerulean Sins 3.9 Incubus Dreams

HistoryEdit

It was created by the City of St. Louis two years before the events of Guilty Pleasures and started out as simply a way to appease the media and politicos about the preternatural crimes that occurred within the city; i.e. vampire and shapeshifter attacks, preternatural murder victims, etc. In the beginning, it was seen as a punishment to be transferred to the team. No one had expected RPIT to actually solve these crimes, but Dolph and his team had a very good success/solve rate, due in part to Anita's insight, and officers began requesting assignment to the team.

Known Members Edit

• Dolph Storr - Sergeant (GP - ID), Lieutenant (ID -TH)
• Zerbrowski - Detective (GP - ID), Sergeant (ID -TH)
• Clive Perry - Detective
• Roberto Merlioni - Detective
• Tammy Reynolds - Detective, witch.
• Marconi - Detective
• Jessica Arnet - Detective
• Smith - Detective, sensitive.
• Anita Blake - Federal Marshal - Consultant
• Larry Kirkland - Federal Marshal - Consultant

Leader Edit

• Dolph Storr - Until his "voluntary leave of absence". (Cerulean Sins)
• Zerbrowski - Standing in for Dolph. (Incubus Dreams)

RPIT Cases Edit

The following are the short descriptions of the cases that RPIT has handled in any of the books.

Guilty Pleasures Edit

Crime(s): Ritualistic murder of vampires; only five of the actual twelve victims were known to the police. Suspect(s): Edward, Zachary. Case Solved: Yes and no. Although Anita had been brought in by RPIT as a consultant on at least one of the murders, she was 'investigating' this at the request of Nikolaos and came to the realization that Zachary was responsible. It is not clear that she shared this information with the police as she had no formal proof of his involvement and Zachary was killed before he could be arrested and charged.

The Laughing Corpse Edit

Crime(s): Murder of Peter Burke; shot in the face. Suspect(s): Dominga Salvador, Antonio. Case Solved: Yes, Antonio admitted to helping his grandmother to kill Peter Burke and to taking the dead man's gris-gris to keep the police from finding out about Dominga's involvement with Peter. Although this was not originally a RIPT case, it soon became evident that his death was involved with the preternatural world.

Crime(s): Human mutilation and sacrifice. Suspect(s): Dominga Salvador; Peter Burke. Case Solved: Yes, Dominga Salvador was arrested with the help of Anita; however, she disappeared shortly after she made bail; it was suspected that she was killed, but her body was never found. Crime(s): Murder of six humans; eaten Suspect(s): Man-eating zombie. Case Solved: Yes, it is believed that Peter Burke and Dominga Salvador raised a deceased animator and lost control of it. Summarily, it began to eat humans to retain its memory.

Circus of the Damned Edit

Crime(s): Murder of two humans; drained of blood Suspect(s): Alejandro and his kiss Case Solved: Yes, a paralegal admitted to turning over the information to Alejandro and his kiss.

The Lunatic Café Edit

Crime(s): Disappearance of undisclosed number of were-animals (we are informed of at least eight, including Jason). Suspect(s): Sheriff Titus; Deputy Aikensen; Gunderson, Kaspar; Carmichael, [no first name]; Feinstein, [no first name]; unnamed male. Case Solved: Yes.

Crime(s): Disappearance of Peggy Smitz, butcher and werewolf Suspect(s): Smitz, George. Case Solved: Yes.

Crime(s): Murder of Sam Williams and two police officers; shot Suspect(s): Sheriff Titus; Deputy Aikensen. Case Solved: Yes.

Crime(s): Murder of two unnamed were-animals, skinned; kidnapping and torture of a Naga; kidnapping of Louis Fane. Suspect(s): Elvira Drew; two unnamed witches. Case Solved: Yes, Elvira admitted to killing several were-animals to complete a ritual that would allow her and her coven to shapeshift.

The Killing Dance Edit

Crime(s): Ritualistic murder of Robert the vampire. Suspect (s): Dominic Dumare; Cassandra; Sabin. Case Solved: Yes, although the culprits were never formally charged. Crime(s): Attempted murder of Anita Blake. Suspect (s): None. Case Solved: Yes, Raina and Marcus were responsible for the hit. It is unclear, however, if this is a closed case with RPIT.

Burned Offerings Edit

Crime(s): Death of unnamed male vampire; burned alive. Suspect(s): Pierce, Vicki; Henry. Case Solved: Yes, it was determined that several members of banded together and recreated The Day of Cleansing also known as The Inferno among vampires. It was later learned that Henry leaked information to the group on the order of his maker, Yvette. Yvette's maker, Morte D'Amour, wished to make vampires illegal by framing the vampires of St. Louis in the destruction of a stadium filled with people. The fires were also connected to several set in New Orleans and San Francisco. Crime(s): Bombing of The Church of Eternal Life; shooting at The Leather Den; attempted arson at Dead Dave's; destruction of public property; shootings at several hospitals. Suspect(s): Humans First. Case Solved: Yes, also a part of The Day of Cleansing that had happened on the same day hundreds of years ago in Europe.

Narcissus in Chains Edit

Crime(s): Murder of Anita Blake Suspect(s): Jean-Claude, Master Vampire of the City of St. Louis. Case Solved: Yes, Anita showed up to get Jean-Claude out of jail, so they had to drop the charges, as Anita was alive. They never learned why Jean-Claude had carried her out of the bondage club, Narcissus in Chains, when Anita was bloody or how she healed as fast as she did.

Cerulean SinsEdit

Crime(s): Death of an unnamed man, done to imitate a ritualistic murder. Suspect(s): Roy Van Anders & one or more of his teammates. Case Solved: Yes. Van Anders was executed for the murder of four women and a cop but his accomplices escaped or were set free. Crime(s): The death of four unnamed women, raped, slaughtered and eaten by a werewolf. Suspect(s): Roy Van Anders, Jason Schuyler. Case Solved: Yes, Anita Blake uses two local werewolves in wolf form to track down Van Anders and executes him.

Incubus Dreams Edit

Crime(s): Murder of four humans, drained of blood. Suspect(s): Vittorio and his kiss; Gwen, Myron, Cooper, and up to fifteen others. Case Solved: Yes; Anita Blake and the Mobile Reserve tracked down and killed many of the younger vampires involved. However, the older vampires that escaped, including Gwen, Myron, and Vittorio himself, split after leaving St. Louis. They had also committed crimes in Pittsburgh and New Orleans. Their kill count is at twenty that the police know about.