Blood on the Ice

Background
This is a multi-step quest which begins in Windhelm. It entails discovering the identity of a serial killer that has killed at least 3 young women by the time Windhelm is entered by the Dragonborn.

The body of the latest victim is in the cemetery, and the quest is activated when the nearby Windhelm guard is queried. There are alternative paths through the quest, so following the quest markers exactly may not be optimum.

There isn't really any forensic reasoning involved; common sense will suffice for the initial portion. The warning about alternate routes through the quest should alert the player to question some early conclusions the various dialogue options seem to force. The walkthough below gives the details.

Initiating the quest
To initiate this quest, the Dragonborn must travel to Windhelm at around midnight. The Dark Brotherhood questline has been started or completed, it could hinder the possibilities of starting this quest. At this point, the player can complete this quest in one of two ways:
 * 1) In the graveyard, there will be several people gathered around a female corpse. The guard will approach the Dragonborn and start a conversation that leads to the initiation of the quest. To get to the graveyard, one should turn left at the entrance to the city, go through the archway, make the first right and go down the steps behind the Blacksmith.
 * 2) Buying the house Hjerim in Windhelm will also start this quest.
 * 3) Another way to start the quest is to steal the key to Hjerim from Tova Shatter-Shield and enter the house. When one of the fliers located on a small dresser is taken, the quest will start at step 9.
 * 4) After questioning the three nearby witnesses, the Dragonborn should talk to the guard again.
 * 5) In order to be granted permission to help the investigation, the Dragonborn must visit Jorleif, and then return to the guard.
 * 6) Inside the Hall of the Dead, the Dragonborn should speak with Helgird.
 * 7) If the Key to Hjerim (purchased or pickpocketed) is in the possession of the player, the house can be entered to skip to step 9; otherwise, rfollowing the trail of blood in the crime scene will lead to Hjerim.
 * 8) Advice should be sought by speaking to Jorleif.
 * 9) Entering the house can be done by picking the lock or receiving a key from the Tova Shatter-Shield, Friga Shatter-Shield's mother.
 * 10) All of the furniture that can be investigated should be.
 * 11) The Butcher's Journal #1 from the bloody chest up against the wall on the left of the entrance should be taken. The wardrobe on the right in the northwest room of the house will have a hidden door leading to an altar.
 * 12) From the altar, Butcher Journal #2 can be found.
 * 13) The Strange Amulet and pamphlets from the small dresser just next to the secret door should also be acquired. The amulet is hidden under the pamphlets.
 * 14) Jorleif will provide the player with information, suggesting to talk to Calixto Corrium and Viola Giordano.
 * 15) The Strange Amulet can be shown, and eventually sold, to Calixto Corrium. He will inform the Dragonborn that it belongs to the court mage. The amulet is needed in order to accuse the court wizard, although it is recommended to sell it or it will remain in the inventory indefinitely after the quest is completed.
 * 16) Viola Giordano is often found in Candlehearth Hall. She can't be talked to unless a copy of the "Beware the Butcher" pamphlet is in possession, or if she's dead or missing. If the journal has been picked up the journal before talking to her in the house, it can be dropped and picked back up in front of her to continue the accusation quest line.

Accusing the mage

 * 1) Returning to Jorleif will end the quest, accusing the court mage of the murders.
 * 2) Waiting three days outside of Windhelm will make a body appear outside Candlehearth Hall, reopening the case and start the second part the quest, "Catch the Killer".

Catching the killer

 * 1) Rather than going to Jorleif, Wuunferth the Unliving, the court mage, can be talked to. Accusing him of practicing necromancy will cause him to deny the accusation, telling the Dragonborn that the amulet and journals are not his. He will then direct the player to where the killer will strike next.
 * 2) As soon as the marketplace area is visited (right by the White Phial shop; the map indicator will be a little misleading) in the stone quarter after dark, as Wuunferth suggests, Calixto will be seen about to murder Arivanya (alternatively, if the Dragonborn has married a woman in Windhelm, Calixto will attempt to murder her). He can be stopped.
 * 3) Alternatively, instead of stopping Calixto in the marketplace, if he is witnessed successfully carrying out this murder, he will run off into the night. The quest tracker will then lead back to Hjerim, where the killer lies in wait and will attack immediately upon entering. If the player is fast enough, they can catch up to Calixto and strike him down, with no added bounty.
 * 4) Returning to Jorleif and telling him that the killer has been caught completes the quest.

If the amulet has been sold to Calixto earlier, it can be looted back after killing him. It turns out to be the fabled Necromancer's Amulet. It grants +50 Magicka, Fortify Conjuration 25%, and reduces Health and Stamina regeneration by 75%.

Trivia

 * If the Dragonborn is part of the Dark Brotherhood, and completes the quest 'Mourning Never Comes', killing Nilsine, Tova will be dead on the floor next to a suicide note in her house. Instead of talking to her, the player can just take the key to Hjerim off her dead body.
 * After killing Calixto and obtaining the key from his body, the Dragonborn can go in his house. Upstairs in Calixto's chest another Butcher's journal can be found. It tells about the reason of all the killing.
 * When visiting Calixto Corrium (quest step 11), it is possible to sell him the Necromancer's Amulet and then pickpocket the amulet in order to then sell it back. Each successful attempt is rewarded with 500 gold and a high Pickpocket experience (no Pickpocket perks are required). Once Calixto's shop is left, it will remain open for the rest of that day, but will lock and stay locked (Master) from then on. He will not be in there ever again. This only works for one day.

Fixed Bugs

 * Patch 1.5 resolved the bug where Calixto did not die properly in some occasions, has been solved.
 * Patch 1.5 fixed the issue where if Viola Giordano is killed before purchasing Hjerim, the quest will start but be in-completable, and no upgrades will be purchasable for the house.

Unpatched Bugs

 * Killing any of the Windhelm guards may cause the quest to never start.
 * Sometimes, after accusing Wuunferth, the body will not appear outside Candlehearth Hall. This can be remedied by talking to Wunnferth (who is out of jail) and triggering the next phase of the quest.
 * If this quest is began just before taking over Windhelm, the crime scene may no longer be there. This can be fixed by skipping away from Windhelm and coming back, so it will be rebuilt, and re-initiate 'Patrol Windhelm at Night'.
 * Sometimes after completion of the quest, even if Calixo is caught and Arivanye is saved, she may randomly turn up dead at the stables or around Windhelm.
 * Sometimes after investigating Hjerm, Calixto is untraceable, making it impossible to sell him the amulet. Talking to Viola Giordano still completes the quest.
 * It is possible for Calixto to attack the woman in the market during the day.
 * Purchasing Hjerim before midway through Blood on the Ice will drop the player in the above timeline just after the murder scene in the graveyard involving Calixto. He will not be able to kill Calixto Corrium to catch the killer. After talking to Jorlief in jail he will tell the player to patrol the streets, Calixto Corrium will run into Hjerim and will attack the player whenever he enters. Although he cannot be killed, he will stop attacking if do enough damage is inflicted to kill him. Attacking him a second time will cause a bounty which will be removed after subduing him. The quest is not completable after this bug. Workaround for this Bug: Console Command "setstage ms11 150" will complete the step "catch the killer". After talking to Jorlief to complete the Quest, Calixto Corrium is gone.
 * Sometimes after Wuunferth is imprisoned and the player has waited several days, he will still not give the option of finding the real murderer, but only the option to teach destruction magic.
 * When picking up the pamphlets in Hjerim, the game will act as if the amulet has been picked up as well, allowing you to talk to Viola about it.
 * After accusing the magician, two necklaces can be worn at once by equipping a necklace, then the pendant, and then equipping the second desired necklace.
 * If Calixto's offer is not accepted to buy the amulet, it stays flagged as an undroppable and unsellable quest item, further clogging your inventory. Furthermore, it carries no enchantment. This can be fixed by using the console command Player.additem 000D2328 -1, removing the strange amulet from the inventory.
 * Occasionally when the upgrade to "clean up that killers mess" is purchased for Hjerim, it may not actually clean it up. Reloading a previous save seems to fix it.
 * Finding the Butcher's journal in Calixto's house before starting the quest seems to prevent the player from starting it.
 * Numerous weapon mounts on the wall and even the weapon rack may be seriously glitched when you buy Hjerim and fully decorate it. You will be able to take equipment off it (e.g. swords and shields) but you will not be able to display anything. In order to fix this, the player must complete both halves of the quest, meaning accusing the court mage and then finding out the actual killer. The player must also be Thane of Eastmarch before fully decorating the house. If the player decides to take the short-cut for the quest, which is confronting Wuunferth instead of speaking to Jorleif about the killer, the weapon rack and weapon mounts will be glitched.
 * If you choose the path to confront Wuunferth and Arivanya is dead, the quest will break right after Wuunferth tells you to patrol the Stone Quarter as she is the next victim. She will need to be resurrected before confronting Wuunferth.
 * On some occasions when Calixto runs to Hjerim, after being caught, the marker on the map says that he is outside the city walls. In actuality, he is not and for some unknown reason if the follow your local map it indicates his true location which is Hjerim.
 * During the second half of the quest when you go back to speak with Wuunferth about the real killer the quest objective to search for the killer in the Grey Quarter at night will be given then almost immediately it will say the objective is completed no matter what time of day before going on to give the objective of catching the killer. Upon leaving the building Calixto will be seen running through the city and if the player attempts to stop him in any way he will call for help and the Windlhelm Guards will come to his defense. If allowed to escape Calixto will eventually make his way to Hjerim where he will be hiding in the room hidden in the wardrobe and no matter what the player does he cannot be killed, only hit until he crouches upon the ground begging for mercy before standing up and attacking again. He will not leave Hjerim and since he cannot be killed the quest will not end.
 * Sometimes the Windhelm guards will enter the house and attack the player while they attempt to subdue or kill Calixto even though they have not seen the attacks and there is no bounty on the player's head.
 * Sometimes Jorleif will not have the option to continue the quest after you speak to him about letting you investigate the crime scene. If you continue on with the quest and do everything as normal you should be able to complete the quest even though you it still says you need to talk to him for assistance.
 * Even if you discover the Butcher's Journal in Calixto's house after pickpocketing him during the quest and opening his chest, you will still need to wrongly accuse the Court Wizard of the murder before you can catch Calixto.
 * The quest can be triggered "manually" even after finishing Imperial Legion questline. As Windhelm guards are now replaced by Imperial soldiers there will be no guard stopping you while passing around dead body at the cemetery. So you have to pickpocket Hjerim's key from Tova Shatter-Shield (you can do this at night while she's sleeping at her house - House of Clan Shatter-Shield). Then you visit Hjerim. When you enter, Blood on the Ice quest should activate. Now, you have to follow the quest. You accuse Wuunferth to be the killer. As Jorleif's going to arrest him with Imperial soldier, follow them to see where jail is in Blue Palace (you will need to know it further in future). Now the first part of quest is completed. You have to leave Windhelm for 3 days. When you come back another murder had place. You can find dead altmer body next to the Candlehearth Hall. Now, you have to go to jail in Blue Palace, open the door on cell where Wuunferth is. Speak to him and inform him that another murder had place in Windhelm, follow the dialogue and as you do so, second part of the quest should activate. Then just follow the quest to its end.
 * If you buy the house in the part of the quest,then in the second part.You cannot buy the remove murders mess Decore.
 * PS3 - After initially questioning the witnesses, the quest points you to speak to the guard, which you can not
 * 360 - If you manage to purchase Hjerim before you "Catch the murderer", then Calixto will remain in the house, immortal and will attack you when you enter the house.
 * If you complete the quest without finding the amulet, purchase Hjerim after completing the civil war questline, and buy the upgrades without going into the house, you can find the "Beware the Butcher!" pamphlets and the amulet. The pamphlets can be dropped if you picked up some of them during the quest, but the amulet cannot be dropped as it is still referenced as a "quest related item".
 * If you complete the first part of the quest imprisoning Wuunferth and attack Windhelm as part of the Imperial Civil War quest line, as you go to challenge Ulfric, Wuunferth will be free from prison in the audience chamber with Ulfric Stormcloak. When the Dragonborn talks with him, he will say that Jorleif freed him from prison and the second part to Blood on the Ice will begin, even though no murder has been committed.

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