I flipped through the documents, looked for clues, a trace, anything. But whatever valuable information they contained... it would have to remain a mystery. Where was my killer hiding?
"At the current time there are no suspects, but the police has discovered an important detail that is said to link all the victims."
The humming sound of the small TV in my office caught my attention and I turned. The haunting voice continued.
"The cold-blooded killer has left a deep cut on each of the victims' faces, almost on the exact same spot. What this means, however, is uncertain at this time."
The TV shut off with a loud click as I sat back down at my desk. I felt ashamed that my mere desk job didn't grant me the important info the rest of the cops had. But I knew I could crack the case myself in the end, the rest were just too incompetent.
I threw the now-useless documents aside and grabbed a white sheet of paper. A cut on each victim... So the killer liked to mark his prey... According to the footage, all the cuts were perfect, precise, so he didn't do it in the dark, that was certain. The man was careful, and didn't pick his killing spots at random...
My scribbles on the paper seemed to add up, little by little. The killer's profile emerge slowly, like a shy fish from a darkened sea. According to the evidence, most of the victims had a dark past, they were either con artists, thieves... murderers... Why would a killer want to hurt another killer? Suddenly, the lead investigator's voice popped in my head and invaded my thoughts:
"Listen Miss Laias, you have no right to poke your nose in our business. For the last time, you're just in charge of the paperwork, that's it. Did I make myself clear?" he said in a sharp tone.
"But I know I can help your team, Sargent. I've seen the victims, something's off about this killer. Did you notice the stabbing on each victim? Did you notice how surgically precise they are?"
"I won't repeat myself girl, leave the case to us! For all we know, your special killer is just a crazy nurse with a steady hand. "
"A part of a medical staff...?" I asked intrigued.
"A spot-on stab isn't that hard to achieve, you just need training... Now, leave it be and get back to your paperwork!"
The little flashback disappeared from my head as quickly as it came, and my mind was clear again. A nurse? How foolish... But wait, in his incompetence, my superior had mentioned something about training... training... that was it! At least I was sure of one thing now, I had a better idea of who the killer was. I just needed to narrow down my search list.
A nurse or doctor had precision, of course, but they were trained to help the human body, perform cuts that could improve the patient's status, not hurt him. Police officers, on the other hand, were trained to defend themselves... and hurt their opponent. My killer was right under my nose the whole time, he was one of us...
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