Chapter Text
The most recent kill has been unnecessarily grisly, but when hasn't it not been grisly when it comes to murder cases? Bonus points if it's connected to the Marksman.
Standing within the bedroom where the blood washed and soaked the sheets where the most recent victim was tied down to, eyelids cut open to reveal blank sockets filled with blood, each second you've spent within the room did not help you get acquainted with the cadaver. Sure, you were already conditioned for this case when you were given the files complete with pictures of the crime scene and the victims themselves, but standing in one was a whole new thing altogether.
You had to step out of the house for a second. You couldn't bear looking at the poor man lying dead on his and wife's bed as she wailed in the living room about her beloved. She sobbed and mourned, crying out her confusion as she's lost. How would she raise all their kids all on her own? You can't keep listening to her.
"It just doesn't get any better."
You looked back to see Abe step up right beside you, shaking a cigarette out of the box he had tucked away in his pocket and depositing it to his lips. When he caught your gaze, he offered you the box, and you softly shook your head. Your superior shrugged and began to rummage for his lighter. Looks like he's finished with the coffee he had brought on the way here.
"It just really doesn't." you agreed in a grim tone as you crossed your arms and watched the forensic team walk between the house and their van, carrying cameras and equipment to gather evidence with.
Normally there would've been a curious crowd gathered right by the parked police cars flashing their lights and washing the street in red and blue, but considering that Abe can be seen in the property, nobody dared to leave their house. You understood that they already knew whose case the body in the house belonged to, and they didn't want to risk showing their faces and be the next one in the list of the Marksman.
"I'm starting to think that the Marksman isn't just one person." Abe's words breathed with tobacco smoke after he took a puff of his lit stick. "The setup this time around has been too elaborate for him to manage in just a few hours that the entire family has been away to get groceries 30 minutes away and only the father was left all alone in the house."
You sighed as you nodded. "That's what I was beginning to think too. The entire room has been prepped for the murder— I mean, really, plastic covering all over the walls and floor? The other kills were messy. I would've attributed this case to an upcoming wannabe-Marksman if it weren't for the fact that the victim fits the qualifications we suspected the Marksman often used to pick his victims. And also the dead frowning face drawn out in duct tape on the plastic covering."
"Ah, you catch on fast for your first time out in the field on this case." Abe chuckled as he reached over and rubbed your head, much to your dismay. After a brief moment of swatting his hand away and yelling at him in annoyance as you stepped away to fix your hair, he took out the cigarette from his lips and let out a long stream of smoke. "I'll spare you the further details and let you sleep tonight. Go home."
You were in the middle of smoothing down the few strands of hair that stuck out when you froze, looking back at him. "Wait, really? I could stay, you know, poke around a bit more, see if I can find something." you faced him. "Besides, I've already seen the blood and the body. I don't think I'll be sleeping tonight."
He let out a brief guffaw which, to be frank, hurt you a bit with how it felt like he was treating you like a greenhorn even though you've worked on a few murder cases before getting assigned under him.
"I've seen your face when we started talking to the wife and she busted out the waterworks. I'm gonna go talk to her again." he was about to walk away when he stopped in the middle of his second stride. He turned his torso halfway just to see you. "Come to the station early tomorrow. I need your wits to piece together what I can get from the family's statements tonight, alright?"
You gave him a stubborn glare, crossing your arms to show that you weren't going to leave. His brows raised above his sunglasses that he was still wearing even though it's dark out, and you've been locked in a staring match until you sighed and looked away.
"Fine." you conceded. He was telling the truth anyway. You don't think you'll be able to last another second with the grieving wife without getting disturbed by her cries when you're supposed to be focused on finding clues. Abe meant well with sending you home, anyway. You began to walk away. "Tomorrow. 6 AM."
He groaned, scratching his temple. "You don't have to be that early, Rookie."
"I'll bring coffee."
His head snapped up as he snapped his fingers. "6 AM."
You laughed as you began to walk away, proud of yourself for getting what you want in the end. "Alright. Good night, Detective."
"Good night, Rookie."
"Stop calling me that."
"Sure, Rook."
Well, you lost that one.
Abe already turned away before you were able to swivel your head back to roll your eyes at him. The detective disappeared through the open front door where a forensic team member stepped aside to make way for him to enter the house first.
It was getting late, the air getting more chilly as the minutes tick by. You stuffed your hands in your jacket pockets, taking hold of your car keys. Wrapping the fabric closer around your frame, you approached the black sedan with tinted windows parked a good distance away from the house. The location you've picked to park was deliberate since you wanted to give the space in front of the house to the cops and forensic team coming by to tackle the case with you and Abe. Entering the vehicle, you decided to head home and not bother picking up a quick drive-thru burger for a late dinner. You didn't have the appetite anyway.
The drive home was silent, save for the usual sounds of traffic and horns being blared by other drivers on the road eager to get home after a long work day. You've forgone listening to the radio, knowing that at each frequency you'll tune at, they'll always be talking about the recent murder.
It's... odd how quick this case got you irritated at the suspect. You've always prided yourself with patience, a virtue lauded by your mentors back in the academy, and it has certainly not failed you in your past cases.
Maybe it was because of how many people had already died and somehow the culprit manages to evade the cops every time before you were even paired with Abe to help him out.
Maybe it was the pressure brought about by the public eye as more attention is being given to the case each time a body turns up.
Maybe it was just the fact that each and every victim has had good and deserving lives thus far that was senselessly robbed from them; a lot of people left devastated from the loss of a friend, family. It was the deliberate targeting of these individuals who had a lot of people close to them who care a lot for them killed.
For what? What does the Marksman want to convey through killing these people leading fulfilling lives? Is it out of jealousy that the Marksman kills them off in such a brutal manner each time just because he doesn't want these people to be happy? Or is it just out of pure malice?
There's always a reason behind killings. A psychopath can rationalize their violence, even if it sounds morally absurd. They sound sick in the head, but you know they have a method to their madness. Surely, the Marksman must have his own method too.
You just have to find it.
Reaching the heart of the city where skyscrapers stood high, you got off the main road to turn towards the basement parking of a high-rise building. You stopped just in front of the boom gate, rolling down your window as the nightguard slid open his own from the guardhouse as well.
"Oh, evening, officer." he nodded towards you and you acknowledged his greeting with a polite nod. "Heard about what happened. Must be tough."
You could only give him a smile as he let you through. Heading over to your usual parking space, you turned off your engine, pulled the keys out of the ignition and locked the car when you left for the elevator. Your brief trip to your apartment door was quick and blurry, though just as you were inserting the key in the doorknob, you heard the door beside yours creak open.
"Oh, hey there, neighbor."
You blinked and looked up, immediately recognizing the deep, velvety voice of your next-door neighbor that matches his handsome looks as well. If you remember correctly, he only moved in just recently, but he's already gone around and introduced himself on the first day. Sebastian had cracked the door slightly to peek through just enough to see what's in the hallway.
"Ah, Seb." you checked your watch. It was just a few minutes before midnight. "Sorry, did I wake you?"
"Oh, no, no. I'm used to noises and whatever that goes bump in the night." he replied with a dismissive wave and an assuring chuckle, leaning on his doorknob and letting it swing open a bit more for you to be able to see him better. "I was just wondering who could be messing with the apartment next door."
You raised your brows before slowly turning back at your door, unlocking it. "Uh-huh."
"I just realized I sounded like a stalker." he chuckled nervously. "I'm not. I just noticed how you don't come home that much so I decided to watch over your apartment as your neighbor. I hope I wasn't too creepy."
"Oh." you straightened up, blinking. "That's... thoughtful of you. Thanks, neighbor."
He smiled as he shrugged. "No problem. Just looking out for my neighbor, you know?"
You nodded with a small laugh as you stepped back to open the door. "Alright. You really didn't have to, but that was really nice of you. Good night, Seb."
"Good night."
You were just about to step through when he stopped you with a frantic tone.
"Right, I almost forgot." he was about to go back to his apartment when he stopped himself, before looking back at you with an inquisitive look. "Say, have you eaten dinner yet?"
Your brows furrowed slightly in conclusion. Where was he going with this? "No."
"Ah, because I was wondering," he pointed both of his thumbs towards his apartment. "I've made too much dinner, and if you haven't eaten yet, I could give you some lasagna?"
Lasagna does sound good right now, a comfort food to soothe your soul after what you just had to deal with today. But you could only give a soft, sheepish smile at him.
"Sorry, Seb, but I'll pass. I'm sure your lasagna tastes good but work just killed my appetite for the last few days. Next time, though."
"Oh, okay." his hand dropped to his doorknob and he pulled it a bit closer until he was back to peeking through the gap again. "I understand. The stress just gets to you so bad. I've gotten those nights too."
You nodded with a laugh. "Alright. Good night."
"Okay."
You disappeared into your apartment and the locks clicked close. Sebastian watched your door for a bit, before retreating to his own apartment as well.
Once his door clicked close, the friendly look on his face immediately dropped to a somewhat disappointed expression. He raised his eyes at the lone Tupperware box on his kitchen counter already filled with lasagna, bottles of chemicals standing beside it. He was really banking on you accepting the "gift" so you wouldn't be able to continue your work on the Marksman case.
Not that your rejection has set his plans back greatly.
He cleaned up his counter, putting the lasagna in the fridge and the chemicals in his cupboards. Plopping down onto his couch, he turned on his television which immediately tuned in to the news channel.
The news anchor detailed the most recent victim added to the list of the Marksman's bodies. As the censored images of the crime scene flashed on-screen, Sebastian can't help but crack a little smile.
His work, albeit censored, is being shown to the world. Talked about by the world. The images disappeared to show the tearful interview of the widow of the victim wailing emotionally on-camera as the news reporter tried to talk to her. Sebastian's smile immediately fell.
He leaned back on his couch as he tuned out the heart-wrenching cries of the woman on the TV, and let his thoughts drift back to you.
You've no idea, perfectly naïve that this whole time, right next door, lived the man you're on the hunt for.
He smiled again, remembering your timid laughs and controlled answers whenever he talked to you. And how, despite being an investigative officer at the local police station, you had another side to you that the world doesn't know.
Of course, they don't know but him only.
He really, really wanted you to accept his lasagna so he could experiment with you again. You were surprisingly so grisly for your first kill, as if you conjured every single wrongdoing that's been done to you and vented it all out on the man you and him tied down together on the bed. And he nearly had you snapping out of your stupor when the cops had caught wind of the location of the ongoing kill.
But now that he's thinking back to you talking to him earlier, smiling and tired, he found you cute. Cute in a way that he's absolutely fascinated with how you're investigating your own murder. Hey, he didn't do it this time around technically. He gave you the knife. You're the one who had your way dissecting the man.
Sebastian had to stifle his bubbling laughter with his hand. Perhaps him not being successful with giving you the spiked lasagna was a happy little accident after all. He wants you to try and solve your own kill for a while. Besides, it'll buy him time.
Plenty of time to find the next victim for you to play with.