1 Twelve
"Any new clues yet?"
Mei took a breath as she heard Noir's voice. She's been staring at the whiteboard for hours now. She really felt like she missed something.
Her colleagues have already left earlier – to look for the suspect based on the criminal profile that she provided. Only, it would take them a really long time to screen every one that meets the criteria.
Mei really needed to solve this. She's a newly hired criminal psychologist, and despite the fact that she graduated abroad with the highest honors, her authority wasn't that much when she started working. It's because Criminal Psychology isn't really recognized yet in their country. But she was determined, she wants to solidify her position in this department. She wants to make investigation more effective by analyzing the suspects and their crimes by using criminal psychology as the basis, along with the traditional investigation methods.
But it seems as though she's at a dead end.
"I know I'm missing something, I just can't pin-point what exactly." Mei supported her chin with her fist, staring at the words on the whiteboard.
Noir also took a look and said, "What if I read them to you? I heard it's easier to stimulate your brain by reading and hearing the same thing."
Noir didn't wait for her answer, he immediately read the lines written.
"First victim: John Ramos, 25 years old, lives in A street, City B – 100 meters away from the Second victim's house. He lives alone.
He was found on Monday morning of May 9, 2022 at 7:12am by his friend, Paulo Santos. He said they had an appointment to go to their designated precinct together to vote. When John didn't answer his knocks, he decided to go in from his unlocked window. It was said that John always kept his window open for ventilation. He was not worried about burglars as he trusted his neighbors. That's when he found John, "peacefully" asleep on his bed. At first he thought John was sleeping, but when he touched him, he found that his body was already cold.
The police arrived at 7:30am, and initial investigation showed no signs of forceful breaking in. At the moment, no possession seems to be missing, and everything was neat and tidy.
Based on the autopsy report, John died at approximately 12:00am on May 9, 2022 due to inhalation of a large amount of potassium cyanide.
Note: John had a very good reputation. His neighbors stated that he was a role model to them. His colleagues praised him for always doing his job well. His friends admired him for his personality.
...
Second Victim: Katherine Gomez, 46 years old, owns an apartment complex and was temporarily living in one of the rooms when the crime happened. She lived there alone.
She was found at approximately 8:15pm on Monday of May 16, 2022 when her family came to visit her. They found her in her bedroom, peacefully "sleeping". Her family didn't realize that she was dead until her son came to wake her up only to feel her cold temperature.
Initial investigation showed that none of the victim's possessions were missing. The investigators also noticed that her apartment was clean and tidy.
Based on the autopsy report, she died due to inhalation of a large amount of potassium cyanide. Her estimated death was at around 12:00am of May 16, 2022.
Note: Katherine was known as a lovely Mother and was treated by everyone who knew her as the "Mom friend" or the "Nice Auntie" by her friends, neighbors, and tenants."
Noir read the words calmly. It was obviously a chilling crime but he read these as if they were a masterpiece. Mei didn't pay attention, she was already used to him being like this. How could she not, Noir is a forensic doctor. Almost everyday, he was dealing with corpses. She contributed his weirdness to his profession, and treated it as a weird quirk that geniuses were said to have.
But it looked like Noir was right about what he said. It was as if the pictures of the crime came to life in front of her. There were things that she didn't notice at first, and was only realizing now.
She looked at the clues she had written, and at the criminal profile that she had analyzed.
Clues:
Both victims died at 12:00am on monday. They were probably "poisoned" on sunday evening.
The victims lived near each other.
Both have good reputations.
They were alone when the crime happened.
Criminal Profile:
Male
25-30 years old
Has a calm and stable temperament
Has a little childishness
Just a little impulsive
Has depression and possible childhood trauma
Has a job that makes it easy for him to obtain potassium cyanide
Has a free time on sundays
Mei stood up and added on the whiteboard:
The criminal went in John's house through the window wearing a filter mask, and made him sniff a towel with potassium cyanide. John's body was a little curled on his bed, despite the criminal's obvious effort on straightening his body. He must've died somewhere else.
The criminal first cleaned his traces and ventilated the house before dragging his body on his bed and making him appear to be sleeping.
The criminal also took a "souvenir" that is not normally noticeable. Perhaps one of the victim's clothes.
The same is true for Katherine. The criminal went in through the door after being voluntarily let in by the old woman. After doing the same thing that he did to John, he also probably took one of her clothes.
Addition to his profile:
This is not the criminal's first time commiting a crime based on how careful and organized he was. Something must've happened recently that made him change his method of commiting crimes.
The criminal is living near the scenes of the crimes. A tennant in Katherine's apartment complex, so she let him in unsuspectingly.
"You're quite good at this." Noir complimented when he saw what she wrote. "I didn't know you can also do some logical reasoning."
"Logical reasoning was my first interest before Criminal Psychology. I unfortunately didn't really study it, though." Mei scratched her head.
"It's 10:48pm already. I'll take you home. I'd also take back the files you borrowed a few days ago, by the way."
Mei glanced at her watch. She didn't realize, but it's gone late already. No wonder it's so quiet out there, the others already went home without her noticing. They didn't call her because she didn't like being disturbed when profiling.
"Sure, I'd just fix my things."
Mei was already used to Noir taking her home. They've been friends ever since they cooperated on their first case when Mei was just new to the job.
Noir went to the garage first, and about 10 minutes later, Mei followed.
...
"Do you know what day it is today?" Noir casually asked, reading one of the files that Mei bowored. They arrived a few minutes ago and Mei offered to give him a drink before he left.
"Ah? Wait, I'll look at my phone... May 22... it's Sunday today."
"Sunday... That criminal must be on his way to do something again." Nox muttered as if talking about the weather, his eyes still on the file. But Mei's heart chilled.
The dots finally connected. And a ridiculous idea popped in her mind. She wanted to deny it, but when she thought of the profile, everything matched Noir. And... it was Sunday today, it was supposed to be his day off, yet he came to work. Did he... plan this?
"By any chance, is there a possibility that you're a psychopath?"
Noir stopped and slowly tilted his head up. "For a person as smart as you, you sure figured it out so slow." His face was cold with apathy and cruelness hid in his smile.
Mei felt her heart beat faster, her blood rushed, and her vision darkened for a moment before she heard a bang in her head. She staggered, but Noir caught her.
It seemed that the revelation was too much for her.
The next second, her vision returned and she found herself on the couch. Noir was standing in front of her.
Noir was actually having a hard time controlling his emotions. His blood was burning – whether it was due to the nervousness of being discovered or the thrill of it, he didn't know. He felt adrenaline rushing in his blood. His mouth twitched and he finally smiled excitedly.
"I've actually killed 10 people already. Oh, the joy of slowly cutting their skin and digging their eyes while they're still alive, screaming and begging to let them go. Hmph, did they, for once, think of letting me go when I begged them back then?" Nox already gave up on concealing his true self.
He revealed his crimes – even the earlier ones. He was not afraid. Anyway, Mei's gonna die today. He revealed how he killed those first 8 people. His father; His elementary teacher; His three childhood bullies; A witness who chose to remain silent; Two of his colleagues who went against him.
"They probably never expected that the person they looked down on the most, would one day be controlling their life and death." Noir had a dazed expression as he recalled once again how they looked, with blood on their unrecognizable body parts.
For Noir, it was revenge that was long overdue. He felt deep hatred for them. It was like he was practicing for that moment for his whole life.
At first he would vent his anger on small animals by torturing and killing them. But as he grew older, he found it harder and harder to control himself. Small animals weren't enough to vent his anger.
Especially when no one ever believed him when he said his father and his elementary teacher abused him. Why? They were very good people, at least that's what he thought, too. So when his mother died, and his father started drinking and abusing him, he felt despair.
Everyone seemed to be nice and kind –until they started to hurt him.
When he first encountered his last two victims, they were really kind to him, just like Mei. But he was afraid that they would just become like his Father later on. Especially when the family next door started being chaotic. The husband who used to be gentle, started beating his wife and kids after losing his job. Constantly triggering Noir and keeping him on edge.
So he thought of something. Yes. Why not just make them stay the way they are now, forever?
He was really satisfied with how his work turned out. And he got to admire his work right after, too, because he's a forensic doctor! Oh, how he wish he could do this forever.
When he's done with Mei, he would go home and rewatch how he tortured his first victims. He felt excited just thinking about it. He took out his mask from his pocket and put it on.
...
"Serial Killer Makes Victims Look Like in Eternal Sleep; Real Life Sleeping Beauty?"
"Three Dead, Serial Killer Still on the Loose"
"People Panic Over Their Safety, Serial Killer Remains Uncaught"
Noir put down the newspapers, "That's 11 for you. Hmm, you know what? Let's make it 12."
He took one of the knives on the table and slowly made his way to the guy tied on the chair. Noir lifted his arm and aimed at the guy's chest before slowly and gently slicing his victim's skin.
"AAAAAAAAAA"
