Chapter 5: Walter - Bloody return

“What the hell is this?” I uttered in shock the moment my eyes laid on the crime scene.

I had a bad feeling when I received a call from central command asking me to go down to a particular crime scene. At the time, I didn’t expect much. There was not much to go on after all aside from a single call about a missing person. Like usual, they only told us what to do and cared not about giving us the reason for it. I knew full well what side they were on as well as where I stood. Perhaps it was because of that that they, to say the least, were not very fond of me taking the call. Nonetheless, we all had protocols to follow and despite their tone, I had a hunch, maybe a detective’s instinct.

But all my years of experience in criminal investigation did not prepare me enough for this. The landlord of the block said that one of her tenants has yet paid their monthly due. Furthermore, there was no answer from her apartment. Unfortunately, she didn’t have a spare key and the tenants of the apartment were not exactly your friendly neighbor type so she decided to call the police just in case some force needed to be involved. Furthermore, none of the neighbors reported seeing them coming out their room for the last few days, which made it even weirder. Having a bad feeling about this, me and my colleagues along with Connor decided to open the door by force. What we saw inside surpassed all our expectations.

The word “HE” was arranged the floor. But more than just a bloody message, it carried a much more terrifying significance. Its composition was nightmarish. It was formed by using dismembered body parts of the tenants. The floor below was stained with the crimson fluid, leaking from the cut limbs.

“What the hell happened here?” I asked myself in disbelief.

“Hey boss what is….!!! Arggg! *Vomit* “ Connor vomited immediately at the sight of the scene. This was supposed to be his first time on the field so I expected he wasn’t used to seeing corpses. But I wouldn’t blame him. Not even the most veteran cop could hold himself and expect to walk out of here like nothing ever happened. In our line of work, it took more than just guts to maintain our sanity from all the sickening things we saw every day. Some managed to do that. Some didn’t and ended up quitting their job. But no matter where they went, no matter what they did, those images would never disappear. It would stick in their mind till the end of their life. But what about those like me who got used to it? In exchange for that, what did we lose in return? I still remembered my first time on the field. It wasn’t that much different from Connor, aside from the vomiting part. But I couldn’t stomach it. My partner, however, who was in the field a few years before me, was completely fine. But perhaps just like me right now, he only looked that way. More accurately, he didn’t feel enough to display it like I did. Little by little, crime after crime, I became like him too. Today, I just took something like this in a stride, like it was nothing. Perhaps with each crime, with each death, a part of me died along with it.

“Go out, Connor! You are not prepared for this.” I told the poor guy.

“Beurgg…ho…ho…I ….am okay boss.” Connor forced a smile as he wiped away the fluid on his face. He might be a fool but at least he got the guts, I would give him that.

“If you are staying, wear the gloves! Don’t disturb anything until the forensic team comes!”

“Yes, sir!”

It took us nearly half an hour to gather them and to reassemble them. From our discovery, we found a total of two bodies, one adult male and one female. The cause of death, needless to say, was fairly obvious without a need for a post-mortem exam. A closer examination of the corpses showed that the cuts were clean, almost too clean. I could hardly imagine it was done by any normal weapon. Not even a katana could make this kind of cut as even the bones were slashed neatly. In addition, it must have also happened pretty fast. The walls in this apartment were quite thin. I could easily hear the woman next door talking. So if there was any struggle, the neighbors should have heard it. However, based on what we obtained from the questioning, no one heard a thing. Even if we assumed the killer was someone they knew, taking out two people in such a short amount of time without any struggle required skill, very good skill. Definitely not something just about anyone could have. Perhaps the culprit killed both of them then cut them later? That could explain the lack of noises.

Suddenly, a thought came to me. How could I possibly forget it? These cuts, they looked just like those in those cases I have been following in the last few months. But if that was to be true and this was the same culprit, did it mean that that guy has finally returned? An eerie feeling suddenly took over me. I felt like this was not over just yet.

“Connor! CONNOR!” I shouted loudly.

“Yes, sir?” Connor rushed back inside, bringing the phone with him on his hand. It looked like he was talking to someone.

“Call the commissioner! We got another case of that serial killer. We need to….”

“Sir, you need to take this.” Connor interrupted me.

“WHAT?”

“It…”

“I can’t understand if you just mumble like an idiot. What is it?”

“I just told HQ about what we found here and they told me that they have just found two similar crime scenes just like these.”

“WHAT? Give me that!”

As it turned out, I was right. The nightmare had yet to unveil its full self. Before we could even finish wrapping up the place, I received yet another call. Two more crime scenes have been found. Both of them involved multiple murders and dismemberment of the victim’s bodies, just like the one I found. The only differences were the identities of the victims, the locations and the letters left behind using the body parts of the deceased. I have come directly to observe the other two locations. It was the same, that dark ominous aura that englobed those places. Based on what I have seen, I was fairly confident to conclude that all three murders were committed by the same person and with the same type of weapon too, perhaps even the same one as well. Of course, we still needed the results from the forensic team for proper evidence but I believed it was safe to assume such.

The most mysterious piece of evidence left behind in these dismaying murders were the characters made from the bodies. In the first case, the letters “H” and “E” were found. In the second were double “L” and in the third, “O!”. It was rather easy to see what these words meant at first glance.

“HELLO!”

Normally, I would have thought there had to be some kind of hidden message or meaning behind the obvious line. Maybe I had arranged the letters incorrectly. Perhaps that was why. Else, all these murders just to say a simple “Hello”? No one could possibly be that crazy. I wished I was wrong about this.

A string of mysterious murders involving a strange weapon capable of cutting people like nothing without leaving any evidence? My body trembled at the thought. This dreaded feeling I had, it was just like before. It was exactly like that case, the one that took the life of my partner. Rushing out of my desk, I went to see the commissioner. I slammed the door open, making a loud sound.

“Sir, it is him. He is back!” I said loudly.

“Settle down, Walter!” The old man scolded me, telling me with his big open eyes to look to the right. His office was twice as large as mine so he could welcome important guests should there be a need for it. I was too hot headed at the time to even realize the people in black suit sitting on the bench, on the opposite side of the commissioner. One was a woman with a black ponytail hairstyle while the other was a large stern looking guy with a scar across his left eye.

“My apologies! Should I come back later?” I asked apologetically, knowing I would get another scold later.

“Is he the one you have been talking about, commissioner Reed?” the woman asked.

“Yes. As you can see, he has a lot of energy in him. Sometimes I wonder if he got too much.” Reed sighed.

“……” the man in black glanced at me, analyzing me from head to toe before turning back without saying a word.

“Still, he is the best detective we got. I believe he will be a great asset to you in this case.” Reed spoke as he looked at Walter.

“Commissioner, what are you talking about?” I asked.

“Walter, this is agent Eliza and Alexander.” The commissioner presented the couple as they shook their hands with me. “They are from the FBI and starting from today, they will be working with you and Connor on the case.”

“What?” I quickly pulled my hands back. I still haven’t forgotten about they screwed us police over last time. Coming here and taking over our operation, these arrogant bastards thought they ran the place and could do whatever they pleased. They fucked up big time, made us lose all clues to the killer. Now that they knew he came back, they wanted to do it again?

Still, their presence here took me by surprise. It has only been a few hours since the discovery of the first case and they have already sent their hounds to our headquarters? I supposed that even the higher ups could not afford to avert their attention from this particular case. The gruesome murder of a few civilians was one thing. However, I was sure that it was the method of killing that caused this sudden rise of attention. After all, based on what I have seen, it was the same as the series of murders a few months ago...the same as his.

During the first few weeks when it happened, it sent the entire nation on a frenzied wave, attracting a lot of attention. Even after dozens of murders, both the identity of the culprit and the murder weapon remained a mystery. The crime scenes were so chaotic, it was as if the killer didn’t even bother to hide it but rather was using it as a message. Whoever they were, I was sure that they were not afraid of being caught or simply didn’t give a single care for the crimes they committed.

That was why the FBI finally intervened. They tried to lure him out. But they screwed up hard. In the end, it was my long time partner, someone who has been with me for ten years straight, who paid the price for their mistake. Thinking back, I was also to blame. I didn’t even realize it. At the time, I was not able to contain my anger toward myself and them and let it show on my face.

The woman stood up and approached me. “Us at the FBI take this case very seriously. We may have gotten on the wrong foot last time but let us cooperate on solving this case together!” She said with a friendly smile on her face and extended her arm.

“……” I stared at her hand and lifted up to her eyes. I knew their tricks far too well. I wouldn’t back down from this.

“Now now I think that is enough for today. We have made introductions. That is important. I will arrange your desks next to Walter’s office. Should be ready tomorrow. How about we call it a day here?” the commissioner proposed. I was a bit disappointed that he didn’t take my side. He, better than me or anyone else, should know how frustrating it was to put all your efforts into investigating the cases, only to let someone else take over when you were so close to the end. He used to be the figure everyone aspired, the model of our department. But now, he was just like any of those officials, seeking compromises.

Not wanting to stay in that room any longer, I stormed outside. Rather than dealing with all these bureaucratic craps, I preferred to actually do something in order to solve this case. But where to begin? Knowing not what to do, I decided to head to the forensic lab. It has been a few hours since then so hopefully, they might come up with something.

“So basically, nothing?” I said in a disappointed tone.

“I am afraid so. We still have not finished our test just yet but as far as I can tell, the weapon used in all three murders is the same type and probably the same weapon too.” The forensic expert said.

“What about the old case? Could they be committed by the same culprit?” I asked.

“That is difficult to say for sure.. But I am confident that the material is the same.”

“Material? What do you mean?”

“In both cases, the wounds were extremely clean. This shows that they were done in a very quick fashion through a singular attack. Not even the sharpest blade in the world can do that kind of You probably already know this from the last case since you were part of the investigating team but the skill and strength required for such task are exceptional. Your killer is not just your average guy out there. This person is very dangerous. Moreover, the murder weapon worries me, because I don’t know any material that could create this kind of cut. You must be careful, detective.”

“For what?”

“For a person with this level of skills and resources, if it is indeed the same culprit as before, I doubt this will be the end of it.”