Chapter 6: Who’s the Killer?

Note: Quick note. In the MC's previous world, Brooklyn 99 doesn't exist so he naturally don't know the characters himself or what happens with them.

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“Anna Hayworth. Divorced to a Kevin Malson. No kids, parents deceased, works as a clerk in a bank.”

Jake read the victim’s file and sighed.

“Well, let’s bring in this Kevin guy first and see his alibi.”

Benjamin nodded and followed along.

They reached a house and knocked on the door.

“Kevin Malson? NYPD!”

Soon after, a middle-aged man with a well-trimmed beard appeared before them.

“What can I do for you, officers?”

Benjamin looked at the man up and down. He was wearing an apron and there was some paint on it.

His hands were also a bit dirty with paint. It was apparent that he was in the middle of painting when they arrived.

“Hi, I’m Detective Peralta, this is Detective Freed. We are currently looking into the death of Anna Hayworth.”

“...Anna’s dead!?”

Kevin looked visibly shocked.

“Yes. We know that you two were divorced, and we were hoping you can answer a few questions.”

“Uhh s-sure. Come right in…”

Jake and Benjamin went inside and saw that the wall was wet with paint.

It wasn’t finished yet but they could tell that flowers were being painted on the wall.

There were also some paint spots all over the place. It was quite messy.

“Sorry about the mess...I wasn’t planning on having visitors over so I didn’t clean up much while I was painting.”

“Are you a painter?”

“Just a hobby.”

Kevin smiled wryly.

“Anna and I met at an art class...that was how we got to know each other. But after a while...I wasn’t able to get a proper job and...she couldn’t handle me anymore. So we separated.”

“I see. When was the last time that you saw Anna?”

Jake asked.

“Uhh, A few days ago? I saw her at the bank she was working at. I was going to deposit some money and didn’t expect to see her there.”

“Do you know if Anna was seeing anyone lately?”

“No, no. We didn’t get to talk much and I was also afraid to ask…”

Jake nodded.

“Do you know if Anna had some enemies? Maybe someone with a grudge on her or something?”

“Uhh no...I don’t think so? She was a kind girl...I don’t think anyone would hate her at all.”

“I see…”

While Jake continued to ask questions, Benjamin was looking around the place.

His HUD Contact scanned the whole place to see if there was anything off.

Sure enough...there was a result.

On the walls and on the floors, there were several traces of blood.

Seeing this, Benjamin now understood what felt off at the crime scene earlier.

It was the lack of blood.

The victim showed signs of struggle. She also had plenty of stab wounds...but the lack of blood in the area was strange.

Normally, there should be some blood splatters here and there...but there were none!

The blood was only concentrated on the blood puddle under the corpse. The rest of the area was clean!

It’s not likely that the murderer attentively cleaned the surroundings before escaping, right?

Now seeing the blood around this place, Benjamin deduced that the fight must’ve happened here instead and the body was later moved in that alley before being stabbed multiple times...

Then does that mean...the murderer is this guy?

Benjamin frowned.

Everything seemed to point to him...but something still feels off.

Benjamin then butted in their conversation and asked.

“Has anyone else been here the past couple of days?”

“Umm, no. I don’t think so.”

“So just you?”

Kevin frowned and then said.

“Well, my younger brother came by yesterday but that’s it.”

“Younger brother?”

“Yeah, Aaron. Why?”

Benjamin looked at the painting on the wall and asked.

“Does he also paint like you?”

“Not much. But we did go to the same art class as Anna.”

“Did he get along with Anna while you were together?”

“We all got along in the past. But things changed.”

Kevin sighed.

“I still can’t believe Anna’s gone now…”

Jake patted the guy.

“Where’s your brother right now? We’d like to ask him some questions too. You know, standard procedure stuff.”

“He rents a place a few blocks from here.”

Benjamin nodded.

Jake sighed and got up.

“Alright, sir. We’ll get going now. Thank you for your time. Let’s go.”

“Wait.”

“Hm?”

Jake turned around to look at Benjamin who was holding a blacklight lamp out of nowhere.

“Where did you pull that out from!? Are you Doraemon?”

“I borrowed it from the M.E. before. Forgot to return it.”

Jake was speechless.

He was clearly not holding anything earlier!

Of course, Benjamin actually bought it in the system Store. These things are cheap and just cost 5 MP...although it feels like a waste, he had no other choice as he needed to show the blood splatter immediately.

Even though the whole thing still seems off, he needed to show these blood splatters now before it gets covered with more paint.

Benjamin ignored Jake and turned the blacklight on.

Instantly, a few glowing spots could be seen around the area.

“I assume this isn’t part of the painting you were doing? Do you mind if we have someone look into it and see if it matches the victim’s blood?”

“I...I...this…”

Kevin was shocked and confused.

What was this? What’s going on?

Then, he understood what Benjamin was trying to say.

“Y-you think...I killed Anna!? I would never! I loved her! Why would I stab her!?”

“Love, hate, both are emotions that aren’t that far off from each other. Love can easily turn into hate, and hate can easily turn into love. In any case, you are now a suspect. If you are innocent, we will know soon.”

Jake immediately moved after hearing what Benjamin said and cuffed Kevin who still looked in shock.

As he was doing so, he looked at Benjamin with a grin.

“Ha! I knew something was off about this guy! We should name this case, the Blood Painter Case.”

“...No.”

“No? How about, the Painted Blood Case?”

Jake squinted his eyes while speaking in a deep voice for some reason.

Benjamin rolled his eyes.

“No.”

“Come on. The Slasher Painter Case?”

“We are not naming the case. Besides, he might not be the murderer.”

“What do you mean? The blood’s here, they’re divorced, easy peasy lemon squeezy.”

Benjamin chuckled.

“We still haven’t found the murder weapon.”

“I’m sure it will turn out once we search the place. Come on!”

They placed Kevin in the car and got ready to leave.

As Jake drove, he suddenly spoke.

“Unless...you think it's the brother?”

“Could be. After all, he did say that his brother came by yesterday.”

“W-why would Aaron kill Anna!? He didn’t kill Anna! I didn’t kill Anna!”

Kevin shouted at the back.

Jake shrugged.

“Maybe they’re having an affair, but Anna saw you at the bank and her old love was rekindled. When she’s about to get back to you, your brother protested, they got into a fight, splashed some paint to cover the blood, carried her to the alley, and killed her there?”

“...”

Benjamin rolled his eyes.

Yeah right. What kind of drama would that be?

An hour later after putting Kevin in the detaining cell in the precinct and driving off to take Aaron for questioning…

“I did it...I killed her...that bitch separated from Kevin but all it took was one meeting and she suddenly wanted to get back to him! We got into a fight at Kevin’s house when he was away...blood was all over so I covered it up with some paint then tossed her in an alley...”

“...”

Both Jake and Benjamin were speechless.

What happened? How come he suddenly just confessed?

Isn’t he supposed to deny it and we’ll have to wreck our brains on how to nail him down!?

Why did he just give up!?

Jake asked.

“Okay, I’m confused. Why did you suddenly confess? And if you’re gonna confess anyway, why go through the trouble of framing your brother, covering the blood with paint!? This doesn’t make sense!”

Benjamin also frowned.

Something...something feels off…

“Where’s the murder weapon?”

“I threw it, I don’t know where it is now.”

“Where?”

“I don’t know!”

Benjamin kept asking.

“Remember it! Where is the weapon!?”

“Look I don’t know where the damn paintbrush is!”

“...Paintbrush?”

Jake and Benjamin looked at each other.

They recalled the M.E. saying that the weapon was a knife about 4-5 inches.

How can a paintbrush stab a person?

Suddenly, Jake noticed something.

“Wait, you said you tossed her in an alley earlier...so you didn’t bring her in that alley and stabbed her multiple times?”

“What? No! Why would I do something that sick!?”

Aaron shook his head.

“Look, we were arguing in Kevin’s place. Things got heated up and before I knew it I picked up a paintbrush and slammed it on her head with the handle...there was blood everywhere and she wasn’t breathing so...so I thought I killed her! I panicked and tried to cover the blood with paint splashes to make it unnoticeable, then tossed her body in an alley and took her wallet so someone would find her and...think a thief did her in…I didn’t stab her!”

Benjamin sighed and felt like beating this guy up.

The stab wounds weren’t post mortem which meant that she was still alive when he dumped her there!

“How exactly did you think that she wasn’t breathing!?”

“I-I...I placed my finger near her nose and mouth…”

“Idiot! You could’ve used a glass to check it properly! And why didn’t you take her pulse!?”

“I-I panicked okay!? I didn’t know!”

This idiot!

Jake and Benjamin felt frustrated talking to this guy.

After roughly cuffing him up and tossing him to the detaining cell, the two of them sat on their desks tiredly.

“In the end, we’re back to square one.”

Jake sighed.

Benjamin nodded and kept looking at the photos of the crime scene.

“Yeah. Worst case, the victim woke up soon after and ran into a psychopath who stabbed her multiple times.”

“Maybe witnessed something she shouldn't have and died because of it.”

Jake shook his head then got up.

“Well, I guess Kevin’s innocent. Guess we should let him go now.”

“Yeah…”