Day 3 - December 2041
- Countryside, Kansas - United States - 6:11 AM
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In a room full of lights, many police officers can be seen standing inside. They're gathering before a dead body. Some sigh, some watch the body in fear. The body is cold, lying on a surgery table.
The body appears to be an adult woman. Her skin is wet, cold, has been swelling a bit.
That's the victim of the recent murder case. A woman who was found dead on the road which was between the fields. The victim appears to have died about hours ago, but just newly found. She had to wait to be found on a cold night.
It's a terrible thing...
And yet... this happened in the countryside which was supposed to be peaceful...
Among the cops who are watching the video, there's also a forensic. A grey-haired man appears to be a bit old, very experienced in his job.
The cops are standing opposite to him to listen to his results after checking on the dead body.
Among the cops, there are also inspector Alex Ramirez and inspector Turner Keyes. Inspector Kane Kuribayashi is not with them. She stays in the city, working on a task that inspector Keyes gave her.
These two inspectors are some of the few cops in Westwood city who were sent here to help the countryside police to solve the case.
Most cops in the room appear to be shocked. This may be their first time facing this case which is too much for them.
Unlike the police in the countryside, Keyes and Alex are calmer. Since the city just newly got a murder case and both of them working on that case, so these inspectors are not so surprised or anything. The only thing that bothers them is the killer. They were tracking down the killer of a case and suddenly they found another murder case.
Inspector Keyes is cold, calm and wide thinking. He tries to link this murder with the murders he was investigating. He has no proof yet, but he wishes it had. He is still waiting for further explanation of the forensic.
Inspector Alex is the other hand, he is lazy but this time he feels... bad.
He hates looking at the victim, he hates looking at their bodies waiting to be rotten.
The more he watches the body, the more he remembers his job's duty. Working as a cop needs responsibility, which this man has... but he dumps it due to his laziness.
He doesn't dare to look at the victim for too long. He lowers his head, trying to calm down. He wonders what he could do to the victim. He knows he has the responsibility for this.
"Victim's name: Katherine Gardener, 26 years old...". - After a while of silence, the forensic scientist spoke up. "The victim was found dead on the trail lying between the fields...". "She died around 2:36 to 2:39 PM yesterday". "She was stabbed 82 times... 6 on the back, 32 on the chest and 44 on the head". - The forensic scientist got closer to the body. "And yet... the victim's private part was thrust by the murderer before he left the scene in a hurry".
Some cops were shocked to know that the poor woman was killed in that brutal way.
Alex tries to calm down, he looks at the forensic scientist as if hoping he will reveal for him more clues.
Meanwhile, Keyes still stands there looking. The inspector needs more information.
"The profile said she was a single mom...". "Sadly, we haven't found the baby yet, even in her house and her car which was left on the field". - The man explained
More shocks come to those who are investigating the femicide case. They're all worried about the kid's fate. They know that they're facing a dangerous killer. They know that the countryside now is not as safe as it used to be.
"The murderer seemed to have been with her before the murder...". "He began to stab her when she was in the car with her baby, then he dragged the woman outside". "The woman was raped during that process, she was murdered after that".
"According to what I assume, the killer fled the scene after killing her". "He stole her car and turned left, deep inside the field, he attempted to torch the car to wipe up evidence and to cause wildfire to clean up everything". "However, it was raining during the murder". "He failed to ignite the fire so he had to flee, his traces ended there due to the heavy rain".
"The weapon which was used for the murder was found beside the victim". - The forensic scientist picked up a bloody knife on the operating table. "But it was raining that time, I couldn't find the fingerprint on the knife". "The only evidence is the semen samples inside the victim's womb, they were mixed with blood when it was stabbed". - He put the semen samples on the table to let all investigators see
"But... I hope the rain won't wear out it". "There's no results yet, we need to wait".
Unlike the other investigators, inspector Keyes doesn't feel anything bad. He stands there, looking at the corpse to find the answer for the case. Keyes gets closer to watch the poor woman. He tries to find the similarities of this case to the two other serial murders.
But he finds nothing...
"Hey...". - All of a sudden, a voice came to inspector Alex
It turned out to be a young police officer. He looks at Alex with some hope in his eyes. Not just him, but some others are doing that. These countryside cops are inexperienced because this is their first time to face a serious murder case like this.
"You guys know this better than us, right?". "We can end this thing very soon, right?". - The police officer asked Alex with hope
However, the inspector doesn't respond. Alex looks at the young man with his unsure and unsettled eyes. The guy is now looking at both sides. He looks at the case and he looks at... himself.
He sees that these cops are putting their hopes on him, he knows that he has to be responsible for his job.
Alex avoids looking at the police officers. He rewinds what he has been doing in the past three days of the case. Just all about playing and being lazy in his job without a stop point. He sees himself as the one that needs to change.
The inspector doesn't respond but looks at the woman with his sad eyes. He feels bad for her when she died that way. The woman died, her child is missing and the killer still walks free. He sees the consequences of the case if he doesn't do anything for it.
His look later points to Keyes, the one he trusts. Alex slowly approaches him from behind.
"Hey... you see anything?".
Keyes doesn't respond, he puts his right hand on his chin, thinking. Till this time, the inspector hasn't found the similarity of this murder case to the two old murder cases. However, he hasn't erased the possibility that the killer might have changed his killing methods on this victim.
But if this murder wasn't caused by that serial killer, the investigators might have to accept that there's another murderer in society.
Keyes shakes his head.
"Nothing...". - Keyes replied. "The Hoodies we're looking for isn't this guy...". "This was caused by someone else...". - Keyes later turned around
The inspector approaches the police officers. He stands still, thinking about what to say. The cops before him are just young boys who survived the world war. They're young, inexperienced and he doesn't see any ex-officers in the room, they're just newbies.
"We were looking for a killer in the city". "He could be a serial killer, he killed three people there within three months, still on the run". "Maybe... this case might have been caused by the same person, but I'm not very sure about that scenario". - Keyes explained to the officers
"Reasons to the cause of femicide are much different from other murders". "They tend to be harmed by their relatives, their partners, only some rare cases by strangers". "We need to check on her relationship". "Check all CCTVs nearby that location, this case is just a matter of time until we arrest him".
"Otherwise... I hope you guys can cooperate with us to catch that serial killer". - Keyes ended his explanation
The police officers don't respond much. They mostly nod to Keyes to reply to him. The officers in the room hope to catch the murderer as soon as possible. They also need to find the victim's child.
Keyes slowly returns to the operating table. He watches the dead body and the clues on the table as an observer. He's putting his mind on the "Overseer mode". In this state, he looks at things as an overseer, he doesn't put his personal thoughts on it but finds the issues around it.
This murder is different from the old two. The killer stabbed the poor victim many times, he even stabbed her womb. This means the murderer had a very big grudge towards the poor woman. This man did not kill the victim in a quick way like the Hoodies Killer.
And yet, inspector Keyes sees that this murderer is not a well planner. He did not think about the consequences of murdering the poor woman. His traces may not be on the knife or the victim's clothes, but the car of the woman may have the clues. As well as his exposed semen samples.
After watching the dead body for a while, Keyes looks up and turns around to see Alex.
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9:39 AM
Three hours since the previous incident. Right now, the case's still on investigation, nothing so far has been found as new clues.
Inspector Keyes and inspector Alex, just like everyone else, are now inside an office of the police station. They're all keeping their eyes on the screens, searching for the victim's traces by using CCTVs. The footages are very clear, but till now, they haven't found the victim. The plan to circle the murderer's route before and after committing the murder is now loosing.
Inspector Alex does not watch the screens. Instead, he's sitting next to the young countryside cops to gather information about the victim's profile in detail to progress the investigation.
Both investigators have to accept the truth that there's another killer. The Hoodies Killer they were looking for did not make this femicide. But instead, someone else did this... and he could be the victim's relative. He could highly be her partner.
Alex is lazy. However, he starts to urge himself to work. While the men among him are doing their best to finish the case, he doesn't want to be useless to them. The inspector doesn't have the mood to be irresponsible at this moment.
But now, Alex doesn't feel good to work. He's a sleepyhead due to sleeplessness from last night. He's rested a bit in the past hour, but he still feels unwell to stay conscious. His body wants to sleep, but his mind urges him to keep working.
All of a sudden, Alex's phone starts ringing. He notices that inspector Kane Kuribayashi is calling him for some reason. He knows the cause of her call immediately. He picks up, he stays away from other officers to stand in an empty corner.
"Hello".
"Hey, senior...". "Well, maybe you why I call you, right?". - Kuribayashi replied
"Say it quick, I'm a bit tired".
"How's it over there?". - Kane appeared to be curious about the current murder case in the countryside
"Well... not so good". "We haven't found anything nice". - Alex turned around to look at the police officers who were checking on the CCTVs
"By the way, I've done what Keyes told me to do, senior". - Kuribayashi said. "I've led a forensic team to Sullivan's house, we didn't find anything suspicious, the house's clean".
Alex doesn't say anything, he intends to return to work and end the call. But he still wants to ask Kuribayashi to help him with this murder case. The inspector returns to the table and picks up the file of Katherine Gardener.
"Senior, are you still there?". - All of a sudden, Kuribayashi asked Alex
"Yeah, what?". - Alex replied
"Maybe Keyes forgot this, but I've done it for him to make sure we won't miss anything". "The girl... Samantha... yeah, Samantha Watson". "I showed her the photo of Sullivan just to make sure if she could identify him as the killer".
"She was unsure". "But I hope my efforts weren't pointless".
Alex nods. The inspector lowers his face and looks at the table, he keeps thinking.
"Thanks for the intel but... I hope you can help me with something, shorty".
"Well...". - Alex started looking at the profile of Katherine. "Maybe I need you to find a person, you know?". "The victim of the case I'm working on is woman, her death may be caused by... love... I think".
"Just... I need you to find her ex, William Mairo Yamazaki". "The guy doesn't live in the country, he lives in the city, around our place". "Find me information about him and check if he's now in city or country, do it quick, okay?".
"Okay...". - Kuribayashi later went to work
Alex doesn't hang up, he decides to let the call last.
The inspector returns to work again, but he notices something odd. Everyone's attention is now pointing towards a short CCTV footage. The police officers leave their current tasks just to look up a running screen.
With curiosity surrounding the inspector, he slowly approaches the screen to watch the CCTV footage.
In the footage, it appears to be recording from afar. A long line of dirt trail between the fields can be seen from afar. The footage was recorded when it was raining, so the quality of this far-sight record is not too good. Despite its bad quality, this footage appears to be something important.
If not, the officers won't be gathering before the screen to watch this footage.
The footage cannot show the scene well. The rain makes the footage become blurred, some drops of rain fell on the screen, but the footage keeps showing the scene of the trail. Down on the trail, it appears to have a figure. A figure of a person is walking on the trail. Their hands are holding something, they lean the unidentified object to their chest as if to cover it.
The investigators don't know what it is. They zoom in on the max level, finally find nothing but disappointment.
The figure appears to be a person who wears clothes like a green hoodie. And yet, the person has hooded their head. That person keeps walking on the dirt trail while being showered by rain. That person keeps holding the object in their chest while walking past the field.
A few seconds later, that person turns their head from the left to the right as if to check on something.
In the end, the person remains walking with their head lowered while leaning the object to their chest.
The footage keeps rendering until the person gets out of the sight of CCTV.
With the officers of Countryside, they feel like they have collected a clue about a suspicious suspect.
However, with Keyes and Alex, this is a different story.
Needless to say, they were shocked to know about this.
They assumed the murderer of this case was someone else. But now, the proof from the CCTV is a very hard slap on their faces. All three murders right now appear to have a strong link to only one person - Jimmy Spencer Sullivan.
"Hey, Keyes... talk a bit". - Alex tapped on Keyes' shoulder. "Kuri called me". "Forensic team found nothing in his house, she also asked the girl Watson by showing his pic". "Found nothing...".
"Which place this footage recorded?". - Keyes immediately asked an officer
"Nearby, nearby the murder".
"Where?".
"Ummmm...". - The man clumsily checked on the file. "That place leads to a town, here...". - He showed Keyes the map of the place where the CCTV was placed
"Kuri Kuri, hear me?". - Inspector Alex took action. "Jimmy Spencer Sullivan, he's now visiting his relatives". "Show me where they live, anyone who lives in the country, do it quick".
"Okay, wait a bit".
Inspector Keyes now starts explaining to the police that he and they may be now are chasing the same murderer. Meanwhile, Alex stands still, nervously waiting for the news from Kuribayashi.
One minute passes...
Two minutes pass...
Three minutes pass...
"I've found it, I've found it". - Kuribayashi finally replied. "His aunt, she lives in Countryside of Kansas".
"Elene Sullivan...".
"Gimme the address". - Alex demanded
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11:12 AM
After so many efforts, the two investigators have found the suspect's location. His aunt's house - which is located in the countryside of Kansas state. At this moment, the two investigators are standing before the house. It's the house of Jimmy Sullivan's aunt, it's a wooden house.
They can't identify the identity of the figure in that footage, they don't have proof, even the indirect or direct that shows Sullivan is the real murderer.
However, his arrival in the countryside which later caused a woman's death is enough for the police to suspect him.
He's guilty or not... depends on this sudden encounter.
Alex steps forward. He rings the bell of the house and steps aside, waiting for the owner. The two investigators are now dressed in casual clothes, they intend to use sudden attacks.
Not so long later, the front door has been opened.
The one who opened the door appears to be an adult woman, an aunt. That's Elene Sullivan - Jimmy Sullivan's aunt - the house's owner.
The woman appears to be a bright, good-looking and beautiful woman. She wears a yellow shirt with blue jeans. Her short brown hair shows that she looks elegant and very peaceful. Her brown eyes appear to be a bit surprised when she sees the two investigators at the door.
"Ummm... hi...?". - The aunt seemed to be a bit nervous because she saw strangers
"Hi, ma'am...". "Umm... well, is Jim here?". "We're his friends, he told us come here to play". - Alex tried to act, he tried to get access to the house
"Oh, so you're the boys he was talking about?". - Elene wondered
"Yeah yeah". - The inspector smiled and nodded, although he didn't know what she was really meaning
"Please come inside, my boy's in the living room".
"Thanks...". - Alex made a strained smile
Elene closes the door. She approaches the living room while the two inspectors slowly start looking around. Their plans are to find the baby and to interrogate Jimmy Sullivan. However, they don't see anything suspicious in this house yet.
Alex feels like to follow the old lady. But he stops when he sees his co-worker's behavior. Keyes seems to be trying to find a good spot to plug some bugs (microphones) and mini cameras. He wants to put this man under surveillance.
Keyes glances at Alex, as if to ask him to go first.
Alex has no choice but to follow Elene Sullivan.
"My nephew, you got some friends here". "Why didn't you tell me that they would come that suddenly? Weren't they in Virginia as you said?". - Elene got into the living room and asked her nephew
All of a sudden, the suspect slowly looks up. That's him. That's Jimmy Sullivan who the inspectors are looking for. He doesn't wear any hoodies, now he wears casual clothes of countryside people.
Sullivan appears to be a bit confused, but he slowly shows his calmness.
"Sorry for bothering you, this is the WPD, we're the police". - Alex pulled out his police card and showed it to the man and his aunt. "I have a few questions for you, okay?".
Sullivan's aunt immediately shows some nervousness on her face.
Meanwhile, Sullivan looks at the policeman calmly.
He lightly nods.
