I've Done My Homework

The next morning, Bryan arrived at the police station a bit late. He had decided to sleep at the hotel and for some reason; he had a perfect sleep, one that he didn't want to disturb.

At the station, he went to his desk and sat down for a while.

His mind was occupied with recent developments of this serial murder case.

He had made some plans on how to go about this case but due to lack of clues, his plans proved to be insufficient and useless. He also didn't want to wait for the killer to make another attempt, that would be like gambling with destiny; how could he be sure that the police would be able to catch the killer?

Whatever clues they had were just bits and pieces which when fixed together didn't provide any picture that was comprehensible. The evidences were scattered and all led to nowhere.

Judging by the previous cases, Bryan doubted that the police would be able to apprehend the killer even if he was "baited" by waiting for him to strike again.

…and he has some mental problems which makes him more difficult to predict… Bryan mused.

This was a guy who would smile at the cameras after every conquest!

Now, he believed that finding Gael Hanson could lead to more revelations.

Regarding Gael, he also had several conjectures which didn't add up.

For example, if he murdered Angelina, then he also had to murder the other six, right?

But he couldn't do this unless he had prior contact with them before or does he choose his victims randomly?

Another thing was that although this Gael was good at disappearing, he still failed to cover all his tracks unlike' the exorcist'.

Bryan waited for a while more. The chief was already around but he didn't want to go in just yet.

After a few minutes, he picked up some of the notes he had written down the previous day and went over to the chief's office.

….

TAC! TAC! TAC!

There was a knock on the door.

Bruce, who was sitting leisurely at his desk, looked up.

"Come in." he said.

The door opened and Bryan entered.

What is it now?

Bruce had an idea that he might have found another evidence.

Ever since the disagreement regarding if the police should tell the public of the killer's watchful eye, they haven't really talked much and Bruce understood why.

"Detective Derrick, do you need something?" Bruce asked promptly.

Bryan didn't stand on ceremony; he pulled out a chair and sat down.

"I discovered something interesting regarding the murder of the seventh victim." Bryan replied. He didn't want to directly link this man to the other six murders just yet.

"Really?" Bruce revealed a surprised expression, "what's the information?"

"I found our through one of my sources that Miss Angelina Ezekiel had a secret boyfriend…"

Bryan almost face palmed inwardly at how shameless he was. Sources indeed!

But it was necessary so as to not get Mabel involved, but yet, Bryan had it in mind to also look into her case.

Bruce listened with utmost seriousness as Bryan recounted everything that Mabel had told him at the café.

"Was it your sources in Wakeville or your sources in Haston city?" Bruce asked. He wanted to know the credibility of this information, not that he doubted the detective but he felt that he might be hiding something important as well…

"Does it matter?" Bryan didn't think that such things counted.

"No it doesn't. I'm just curious about how you get your information." Bruce ruffled his hair.

Bryan didn't bother giving a reply and instead went on with his suggestion.

"But this doesn't add up." Bruce said as his mind whirled.

"I thought so too," Bryan agreed, "but we need to pay close attention to him. He was able to hack into the security cameras!"

"I'll have some people check through the list of people who had left Haston city around that period."

"No need, I've already done my homework. He seemed to have disappeared without a trace!"

Bruce fell silent and thought deeply about this issue. Truly, this was a big clue.

"What else did you find out?"

"He was involved with three murder cases previously and was also involved with some major fire outbreak." Bryan recalled most of the things he had read.

"I'm aware of the fire incidence, but the number of victims was only an estimated value." Bruce said slowly as if realising something then he asked, "So you think he survived the fire?"

"I think he was never in the fire or he might have caused it!"

Bruce nodded again. This was plausible. If he was able to set up a fire incidence and was declared dead, this would be a perfect way to conceal his disappearance without attracting too much attention!

"I also went through his social media accounts and they were all empty." Bryan continued to explain.

"Don't worry; I'll have Regina work on recovering the CCTV footages, his call logs and social media accounts. We'll also look into some other security operatives." Bruce said and tapped the table a bit. This was a piece that could lead to a lot of pieces!

"Regina? She can do those stuffs?"

Bryan found it puzzling. She looked like someone who enjoyed shopping and doing manicure and pedicures all day rather than a renowned hacker!

Then again, the fact that she's a police officer proves that she's more than capable.

Bruce nodded in affirmation.

Bryan handed over Gael's picture, which he had duplicated, to Bruce and also some other documents he had acquired during his investigation yesterday.

"That's all, sir." Bryan said and stood up ready to leave.

"Okay." Bruce said and leaned back into his chair. He let out a deep breath and scratched his head a bit.

"And Bryan, thank you."

Bryan stopped and half turned to glance at the man who had just thanked him, "I'm doing my job."

Bryan said without any hint of emotion and went out of the office.

After he left the office, Bruce fell silent for a while.

He looked at the photo of Gael Hanson intensely. His gaze could burn a hole through the photo.

He threw the picture on the table and put his hands over his head. This wasn't what he was expecting.

"Gael, what have you done?" Bruce asked passively and stood up from his chair.