1/09/2023

Walking into the police precinct, Kian looked around. It wasn’t his first time here, and he made no plans to make himself a regular here.

As he looked around, Xylo came jogging over. He placed a hand on his shoulder, saying, “Thanks for coming.”

Kian nodded curtly as he accepted the visitors badge from him, “What do you want from me this time?”

“I volunteered you as a consultant for our case,” he said as he led him to the briefing room.

As they walked past the rooms, he stopped, noticing a familiar face on one of the boards.

Xylo turned around to look at him, then smirked. “Not that one.”

“Why not?” Kian asked as they continued walking.

“We were at the party. It’s best not to be involved in that case. It’s beginning to spiral out of control,” he said with a shake of his head. He learned a few details that made no sense.

“How?” Kian asked.

Xylo stopped and looked at him. Raising a brow, he said, “At first I thought it was someone I know, but all the attacks are irregular. First it was at the party with that dude you were talking to, then it was some chick who was at the party too that got attacked on her way home. It’s looking bad for us.”

Kian shook his head, “You thought it was me?”

He nodded. “At some point, who wouldn’t?”

Kian shook his head and looked inside through the glass door. Xylo opened, saying, “The lieutenant will be here soon with the captain and others.”

He handed Kian a file, saying, “This is what the profiler put together.”

Xylo sat down beside him as Kian went through the document. Reading the first paragraph, he understood why Xylo brought him in on the case. Turning to him with a sigh, he said, “If I help you, this will be the last time.”

Xylo smirked. “Why would you want to end such a wonderful friendship?”

The door opened and in walked the captain. When he saw Kian, he smiled, recognising him from the picture Xylo showed him, but he had to keep in mind that Kian was a potential suspect in one of the other cases.

He walked up to Kian, “You must be Mr. Judge. I heard so much about you from Xylo.”

Kian stood up with a smile and shook his hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Captain Smith.”

Captain Smith sighed, “We’re really running out of options here, so I hope we aren’t a bother. I take it you’ve been filled in on this case?”

He shook his head. “I just started reading the file. I’d like more information about it.”

“I’ve heard from Xylo that the two of you met in high school and became good friends. You also studied criminal psychology while aiming to work within the criminal justice system. From what I’ve read on you, you’re well on your way to becoming a prosecutor,” the captain said as he took a seat.

Kian nodded as he took a seat, “Yes, and funny enough, I never thought of being a consultant.”

Xylo chuckled beside him. “Don’t be so modest. The captain knows I go to you for help when I’m in a bind.”

Looking at Xylo he smiled, ‘One day you’ll regret knowing me.’

The briefing room filled up slowly. Kian was introduced to everyone as they came in and, after about ten minutes of waiting, the briefing began.

Detective Cross walked past the briefing room, heading to the other, when he stopped out of curiosity. He looked inside and saw Kian sitting inside. He frowned, thinking, ‘Isn’t he the one the captain said was far off from being a criminal, but he must be taken into account?’

Sneaking into the room, he sat behind everyone and listened in.

“From a legal perspective, which approach do you think we should take?” One of the officers asked, as he looked at Kian.

Kian stood up, sighing inwardly. He looked at the evidence on the board and started, “From a legal perspective, Minister Laurier has every right to seek out justice for his son, but if we put the law first, the two cases aren’t on the same scale. Murder was committed in a gruesome way. Cutting off the genitalia and packaging it up and sending it back to the family is peculiar.”

The profiler in the room agreed. Looking at Kian, he asked, “What do you think his message is?”

“I’ve read up on a few murder cases recently. There must be a motive for the murder and I’ll take it into account that it must be because the killer must know that Mr Laurier was charged with rape and let go because of his father’s status as a politician.” He said.

The profiler nodded. “Not only that, but it looks like that killer has anger issues.”

“Anger issues?” Kian repeated.

Officer Kendrick, who presented the briefing, handed Kian a paper saying, “The autopsy report shows that his ribs were broken and also the bones in his legs.”

Kian looked at him, “Were they broken before or after his death?”

“Before,” Officer Kendrick answered.

Kian narrowed his eyes as he nodded in understanding. Thinking about it further, he asked, “I think it can be because of power more than anger issues.”

“Power? Power control?” Officer Kendrick asked, surprised.

Kian nodded as he stared at Alan Laurier’s picture, saying, “Seven rape charges and seven assault cases. Superiority, spoilt and arrogant. Traits of a narcissist. Going back to a victim who reported him showed that he didn’t care about the consequences and now he’s dead.”

Tilting his head to the side, he mumbled, “If you did to Kiara what you did to them, you’d still be alive, but a cripple.”

The other officers looked around at each other while Xylo looked at the captain. He knew that bringing Kian in on this case would make him suspicious—Kian was a peculiar fellow and you’d only understand him after a few years. Everything else made him seem like he should be behind bars.

The profiler asked curiously as he looked at the calm and calculative look in Kian, was staring at the board with, “Who is Kiara?”

Looking at him, Kian said, “My sister.”

Turning around, he asked, “Have you looked into their siblings?”

Officer Kendrick shook his head. Looking at his partner, who was going through the files, he said, “Most of his victims are from businesses. But one has a brother…”

His partner walked over, saying, “Miss Forie, her brother is a drunkard and in rehab.”

Kian nodded his head as he listened.

“Write a list of the men surrounding the victims and speak to them. Between them, there must be someone suspicious,” Captain Smith said.

“Although we have to look into the murder, we can’t let the victims live without justice being served,” Kian said.

He looked at the captain, asking, “Have there been any objections yet to the investigation?”

Captain Smith looked down at the table for a moment. ‘Although I got a call from Minister Laurier, I also got a call from the higher ups requesting that we investigate both cases.’

“We are to investigate both cases and take into account all the families,” he said.

Kian looked at the board, nodding his head, and said, “If I may suggest something. It’s just a thought. It could be nonsense, but it’s worth the shot.”

“What is it?” Officer Kendrick asked. He was rather interested in this fellow, especially the words he muttered about not killing the victim.

“The victims are all women. What if it was a woman who killed him? Maybe she feels sorry for the victims and thus wanted to show him that a woman can have authority too. If she is well trained, then it can be very possible that our killer is a female, but that’s just my thoughts on this,” he said.

Officer Kendrick looked at the autopsy report, the broken limbs, bruising, knife skills on par with a surgeon, “Are we looking for a doctor? The genitalia was cut off with precision, almost as though the person knew what they were doing. We’ll have to look for a weapon at the crime scene that could be used to help break the limbs.”

“If you didn’t find a bloody weapon at the scene, do you think you’ll still find it?” Kian asked them.

Officer Barlowe, sitting with the others, said, “That’s not necessarily the case. The killer could have dumped it elsewhere or still have it.”

Counting on his fingers Kian said, “Cannibals, Missionary Killers, Visionary Killers, Spree Killers, Psychopaths, Angels of Death are a few to mention. What if the killer believes that what they are doing is right? Do you think you’ll find them?”

The officers groaned inwardly. It looks like they’ll have to do so much digging in order to capture this criminal.

Profiler Mike Austin chuckled. “Have you chosen the right career path?”

Kian nodded his head with a smile, “If I join the police force, who will make sure the criminals stay put in prison?”