chapter 41

Everyone was confused.

The faces of the police officers who gathered in the middle of the night were quite grim and a little terrified at the same time, seeing that the vivid nightmare of the incident that rocked New York half a year ago is coming back. They’re wondering whether they’re going to have to look at those inconceivable field photos for a while, pondering that they probably can’t go home early for a while, thinking why he’s been quiet for a while and now he’s doing it again in New York, and so on.

“So …”

“Huh?”

“What’s the basis? Why do you believe Alvin Jones killed her?”

Because he fell asleep inside Tim’s car, Tim lightly narrowed his eyebrows when Jude said that he could not remember a single overview of the incident that Tim passionately explained. No matter how desperate he fights against sleepiness, he was not able to open his eyes even at the news of the psycho serial killer he arrested had resumed his activities, and Jude shrugged with little remorse.

“Sorry. I was so sleepy. I went to bed at two in the middle of the movie.”

“……yes. Whatever. The victim is Sally Winters, a 28-years-old woman. She was married and had a child, but she went missing four days ago. But the body wasn’t found until tonight, a little past one o’clock, under Manhattan Bridge. Totally Alvin Jones-like, incredibly elaborate, slow-moving torture over time. You know, the body that makes even the autopsy examiners wrinkle their eyes. And there was a letter with his name on it, next to the body.”

“Oh, yeah. What did it say?”

“Oh, Jude! You’re here!”

Just as Tim was about to speak, a half bald middle-aged man rushed out from inside. With Jude gazing absent-mindedly, he quickly came to the front of Jude and grabbed his shoulder.

“Don’t worry, the police will guarantee your safety.”

“……yeah? No, well, thanks, but why all of a sudden?”

“Why? Tim, haven’t you told him yet?”

“I was just about to.”

“Jude, don’t be surprised to see. No, I don’t think you’ll be surprised if you think about it yourself.”

When Jude, who was weary of the Chief’s burning eyes, nodded there and then, the Chief took a few breaths and handed over the envelope he had held in one hand. In a plastic bag for storing evidence, there was a neatly typed sheet of paper. Though a little stained with drops of blood, there was not much strain in looking at the handwriting, and Jude accepted it and began to read.

This is Alvin Jones. It’s been a while, everyone.

It wasn’t that easy to find a safe place after breaking out of prison. That’s why I’m greeting you again after such a long time. Nice to meet you.

I think this woman said her name was Sally. It was quite interesting. The reason why she had stronger vitality than I thought was because she was a mother with a child. If I could, I wanted to elaborate on the motherhood thing, but it won’t be possible until a little later.

This woman was a small experiment to get my senses back. Now that this experiment is over, I’m thinking about setting a real goal for one person. It’s one of the detectives, and I think the police know better who he is. I haven’t decided how yet, there are so many methods that even I am confused. But one thing is for sure. Sooner or later, I’m going to take his life away. Until then, I will step back for a while.

“……what, this. Who is this?”

“Who is this? His name is on it.”

“……uh, my esteemed Chief. You don’t really believe that he did this, do you?

The Chief’s eyes were drooping.

“First of all, the names are written like this, and the M.O. is so identical. I haven’t confirmed it’s him yet, but for now, I’m going to think of it as Alvin Jones.”

“I’m sorry, sir. It doesn’t look like him at all, this, well, it’s kind of, but it’s not. It’s so different from the way he did before he broke out. Well, first of all, it’s weird that he’s trying to explain something to ‘everyone’.”

“Isn’t he trying to make fun of us? Doesn’t he thinks that the cops are in his hands?”

“Well, how about those time? Remember? FBI agents sent me in as profilers and professional counselors, but he didn’t reveal anything substantial. But why does he wants to explain his behavior to the unspecified people now? It sounds like he’s saying he wants attention.”

“……well, that’s a little strange, but then he was only talking to you, and he didn’t talk to anyone else. Now that he’s doing this there’s a certain sense of incompatibility.”

“That’s exactly what it says. ”

When a sudden, dry voice, interrupted, three pair of eyes were turned toward the owner of the voice. Jude’s face became ambiguous, and Tim’s face slightly hardened. A man with cold winter eyes, smiling incongruously, was heading towards them.

“I haven’t seen you in ages, Chief. Detective Timothy, Detective Jude.”

“Oh, Mr. Jeffrey. It’s been a long time.”

“Hello.”

“…… Long time no see.”

It wasn’t until Tim’s somehow brusque greeting was over that Jeffrey came to their side with two other FBI agents. Peering through the evidence bag, the skinny man slowly opened his mouth.

“I’ve heard it in advance……but as Detective Jude said, there’s something that’s not convincing. Alvin Jones was not the type of person who enjoyed the media or people’s attention. He didn’t throw the body out there so it could be seen, and he could justify his actions to a lot of FBI agents who come to him after he’s been caught, but he didn’t. He’s never done that before. But this letter is quite different, it calls for a lot of attention. It’s strange, because it was not his way to say a word to someone he didn’t want to talk to.”

“Then……does that mean a copycat? The person who wrote this letter?”

“It’s possible. Back then was such a big event, and there were a lot of idiots who takes Alvin Jones as a role model. I’m sure it’s more reasonable to think it’s a copycat crime, though he didn’t do this in detail.”

Nodding his head at Jeffrey’s words, the Chief glanced at Jude with a slightly uneasy look.

“So what do you think about this guy threatening to kill a detective? It’s obviously Jude. Do you think that’s a bluff?”

“No, I’d rather say it’s not a bluff. He’s already murdered a woman in the same way as Alvin Jones. The threat to Detective Jude should also be considered real. You’d better place the police near his house and protect him.”

The Chief, gave a long anxious sigh. It is true that the man yawning while inadvertently scratching the back of his head in front of his eyes is a lazy subordinate who usually managed to roll around, but it was natural that he would felt very uncomfortable when he was threatened to be killed in a terrible way like the woman in the picture. Amid various concerns swirling in his head, the Chief shook his head with a flutter and spat out the last thing he thought of like a sigh.

“Oh… The mass media is going to go wild again, and I’m scared just to think about people’s reaction.”

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