"So, agent Mulligan, tell me about your line of work" His pen gently tapped his notepad that sat on top of his crossed legs.The man sat opposite him was a skinny tall figure, his cheek bones sharp and his hair was brown, his hair was almost null on the sides and the top, a spiky slickedback look. His eyes were a deep blue and his skin a pale white, he looked about 30 and sat in a relaxed way against the back of the chair. For a second the room was a barren quiet Andrew slowly leaned forward and clasped his hands together. "I know that you don't really care about that." His eyes slowly met the therapist opposite him. A loud breath came from the therapist before he relaxed in his chair and set the notepad to the side. The therapist was a slightly old man with short white hair and an English accent. "Andrew, you must allow yourself to get help to receive improvements." "It wasn't my idea to continue therapy." Andrew stood up and wandered to the left of the chair. The room was a small minimalistic office with yellow walls and a singular light that hung from the ceiling. The slow tick of a clock on the wall made silence more bearable and the chairs sat about four feet from each other. Andrew slowly walked towards a shelf to the left of the chairs where some statues and random items scattered the board. The therapist's head tilted as he used his hand to support the weight of his head. "You must admit, your work is certainly not for the faint of heart Andrew." Andrew looked to the right to meet the therapist's eyes as he grabbed a statue from the shelf. A small statuette of Jesus nailed to the cross made from a black material. "I have a certain relationship with mortality" he placed the statuette back onto the shelf and turned towards the therapist. "The realisation of mortality often scares many, however mortality embraces me in a paternal role" His head tilted down and left as he let out a thought "I feel nurtured." After a while of mutual silence the therapist tapped the pen onto the notebook before planting both of his arms onto the arms of the chair and leveraging himself up. His face was a keen interest with a slight confusion as they both stood staring onto the shelf. "Perhaps we should end the session early" Andrew nodded as he turned to walk out the door. "Thankyou for today Doctor Estian." Andrew wrapped his trench coat onto him and walked out the building.
Manhattan New York - America
Today the fog was thick, Andrew Mulligan walked down the road withdrawing a cigarette from his trench coat and lighting it. The town is lined with shops and busy people walking around. Andrew continued to walk down the road, shoes clattered on the pavement and the clustered speech from sparse groups continued to buzz. After not so long of a time, Andrew arrived at the police station. He entered the door and the guard spoke softly "You are late." Andrew never looked up, he just kept walking with his head down "I was discussing mortality with your personal spy." The guard huffed in disapproval before going back to reading the newspaper in his hand. "Andrew," said a woman from across the precinct. Andrew's eyes moved up. The woman was wearing a leather jacket with a light blue shirt and jeans, "What can I do for you Allison?" said Andrew forcing out a straight faced smile, they both walked side by side through the desks. "I need you to help me on the Summer Myers case." "A tenant not paying on time does not really require my expertise." Allison slowed to a stop while continuing to look at him. "She hasn't responded to any calls and all our wellbeing checks have turned up negative." Andrew's head tilted to the ceiling in an internal tantrum. "Fine, we can go." Both of them turned to the main door of the precinct and began to walk. Andrews hand swept through his gelled hair and with every step he walked with a purpose, or a disdain for the menial. As they arrived outside Allison entered the driver's seat while Andrew sat in the passenger.
After a short mutually silent drive they arrived outside the apartment complex. A tall brick building, minimal in design but rich in culture. The rusted plaque outside the door read "Couran Apartments" Allison and Andrew walked in and were met by an old lady sat at the main desk, both people brandished their ID and continued to walk to the lady before Andrew spoke up "Detective Mulligan with the Manhattan police department, we are here for a wellbeing check with a Ms Summer Myers" As he spoke he looked around the room with a bored expression and a monotone voice. The woman looked up from the reception desk that she sat at, "Ah yes, I do know summer, let me get you two a key." She smiled before placing the glasses that hung from her neck on a bead chain onto her face. She slowly got up from the desk and turned to face the key cabinet behind her. After a while of scanning and mumbling to herself she grabbed a key and slowly turned around before placing it on the table. "Please do not hesitate to ask if you have any problems." She looked from Allison to Andrew smiling, Allison responded back with a warm smile and Andrew forced out a clearly uncomfortable smile. Andrew and Allison walked to a door to the right of the reception desk and Andrew opened it for Allison. The wood door creaked as it opened and the hallway revealed was a long pastel yellow hallway. Allison and Andrew walked in line with each other down the hallway, Their shoes leaving indents on the blue carpet below, "Room 14" Said Andrew, as he scanned the different sides of the hallway for the room. Eventually they both arrived at the room. Allison knocked while Andrew stood next to the door against the wall."Hello, Summer are you there?" Spoke Allison softly. After some more knocks Andrews head tilted towards Allison, and he gestured towards his watch "We may as well open the door, it's been more than enough time" Allison nodded her head before withdrawing the key from her pocket. As she forced the key into the lock and let out an exhausted sigh the door opened. "Summer?" Allison said, Andrew picked himself up from the wall and walked towards the door. The lights flicked on as Allison pressed the button on the wall. The apartment felt empty, a long foyer with a room on the left and an open room at the end. Allison and Andrew withdrew their handguns, as they stealthily walked through the house they checked the room to the left of the foyer, a bathroom, Empty and baron. As they kept on throughout the house they reached the end of the foyer, first Allison swung around the corner while Andrew swiftly followed.
On the wall above the bed was a lattice positioned in a cross position, vines winding around each lattice and in the middle was the center piece. A woman who had been nailed to the cross, her stomach had a gouge from one side the other and the vines had been meticulously placed so that the origin would be from her stomach. Her eyes were replaced by red roses. Her arms had been nailed to the lattice and the vines held her in place. "Holy shit" Allison muttered beneath her breath. She stepped back in horror and held the back of her hand over her mouth. Andrew stared at the body, taking in everything. "A waste" He said before taking out his phone and calling the station "Summer Myers is dead, send over forensics." His head looked to the nauseous Allison "Please don't contaminate the crime scene." Andrew's voice was almost too monotone, Allison' s face recoiled in disgust from the disregard of the situation. Andrew proceeded to the exit of the apartment and Allison looked from the body to Andrew to the body and followed him pacing in a rage. Her footsteps doubled his pace and her hand fell from her face. As soon as they both reached outside the apartment Allison closed the door "You do understand that is a person right?" Allison said in a confrontational tone. "It was a person, yes" "So why can you not seem to grasp the fact that they have died!" Allison's hands clasped onto her face and then swung to her sides in frustration, Andrew did not flinch, he paused for a second before answering. "I don't see value in grieving for the already passed. The only value they can provide is helping with this investigation." Andrew stared at Allison not knowing how to read the confusion mixed with shock on her face. Allison blinked with her mouth agape and her arms fell to her sides. After around ten minutes of awkward silence waiting outside the apartment the forensics team arrived.
"What have we got?" said a man in casual smart clothing. His hair was brown and swept evenly from the top left to the right of his head, his hair on the side is a fair length and his eyes a deep brown. His mouth tied into a silver lined smile. Andrew looked over to him "Summer Myers is deceased, she has been crucified by someone who clearly has a liking for nature" The forensics expert approached the door and upon hearing the details of summer his eyes widened in shock mixed with interest. "This is clearly an expression of art, Summer has been carved just under her stomach." Said Allison. The man sighed before opening the door and continuing through the room, a team of people followed behind alongside Allison and Andrew."Jesus" muttered the forensic specialist, holding back his discomfort as much as he could. The men began unboxing kits and utilising different instruments to gauge readings on several parts of the room, from the vines that embraced the girl to the blood that seeped from her stomach. "She died here" Andrew said, raising a hand to cup his chin in thought. "No blood leading towards the bed" As Andrew looked back at the foyer he began his usual brainstorming.
Only two pairs of shoe marks were at the foyer before we arrived, there was no problem with the locks and no sign of forced entry. The window in the bedroom was closed and the blinds pulled. Summer knew this person.
Before he could finish, Allison bumped his shoulder "Hey?" Andrew staggered back before facing Allison. "You got anything yet?" She said in a passive aggressive tone. "This seems to be a personal killing" The crew surrounding the body perked up facing Andrew, he slowly paced towards the foyer and placed both his hands into the trench coat pockets "Two pairs of shoeprints excluding everyone here and the door looks untouched." His hand reached out from his trench coat and intimately slid his hand down the door. He turned to face the crew, "The window" everyone in unison faced the window "The window was closed so no other signs of entry and the handle contraption was not tampered with." Allison began to interject "Okay so. We have a killer who could have possibly intimately known Summer." "Myers wasn't very popular" Spoke up one of the crew members who was crouched on the floor looking up. Andrew grew curiouser. Everyone separated their universal focus and broke into groups. Some stayed brainstorming while others continued gathering evidence. Andrews stayed staring at Summer Myers. Andrew's eyes darted around her body as his head stayed straight. His arm slowly extended as he began pointing. "A bullet entry wound" The main forensics man traced Andrew's finger to summers chest where he found the hole. "The skin is folded inward and there is blood to the left of her chest showing a clear exit splatter" The wound was placed slightly to the left of her left breast. Her naked body was pale from the lack of blood that pooled in the bed below her. "She was killed first," Allison said in a disgusted tone. "And then he created art" Andrew whispered. Allison turned her head but chose to ignore nor warrant a reply. After a moment Allison turned to Andrews "I thought you didn't do that empathy shit with anyone." "It isn't empathy, merely logic. Why else replace your victims eyes with roses? This is clearly an expression of sorts." Allison's head turned to the ground in thought. And Andrew's head stayed focused on Summer "She invited the killer in" Said Allison, Andrew looked in confusion "Why would anyone do that." "She knew the killer. Personally." Allison said. Andrew nodded in agreement "What do you base this off?" said Andrew. "Logic, just not the same as yours." Andrew never really understood emotions or empathy. He spent most of his life alone, not struggling, Andrew did not care much about companionships or friendship and could not understand people on a deep personal level. However Andrew was incredibly smart, Andrew was able to logically breakdown aspects of cases at an extraordinary level of accuracy. He was able to logically paint patterns in his head and had knowledge of topics that seem abstract until put into a crime scene. Andrew could determine where someone died from a blood splatter or the time of death from the drainage of blood and which organs had been punctured.
From the pool of blood on the bed being 30cm by 30cm and the wound being on the stomach. A bullet wound position in the chest above the left breast the bullet had punctured the lung. The lung has possibly collapsed. The victim looks to have been here no longer than a couple of days. No signs of decay and the blood is still dripping from the wound on the stomach. Assuming that the killer knew the victim the killer must have entered with the victim into the house. The killer shot the victim while they were facing him. No one heard the shot, or reported one at least. The killer must have been using a silencer on the pistol. Even then the pistol would still be audible. The placement of the shot was in a non optimal area, the killer must be an amateur. They then began to create the mural. The lattice was brought into the apartment and the body was nailed to the cross. The eyes were carved and replaced with roses and the stomach was gauged. Then the vine stem was positioned inside of the stomach.
Andrew's thoughts were shattered by Allison's voice. "They must have been incredibly intimate at the time of death. This would explain the lack of clothing. "No" Andrew interjected, Allison's head darted to him and shook. "The wound on her chest shows clothing debris. You can see the burnt cotton from the bullet's friction." At that moment Andrew was taken aback in shock.
The victim wasn't shot before being placed on the cross. The blood from the entry wound is on the wall behind her.
Andrew looked around for any signs of blood, nothing. He entered the room and spoke. "Summer was killed on the lattice" The forensic team looked up in disbelief, some even chuckling and disregarding his statement. "The splatter on the wall behind her from the shot, how could that be done off the lattice." The forensics team looked at summer, each of them slowly putting down their testing kits to examine the body. Andrew turned to Allison "I believe we should leave. We have more we need to talk about with the rest of the precinct." Allison nodded in agreement and her face showed a great amazement from Andrews examination. They both walked out of the building and got into the car. Allison took several deep breaths as she readied for the drive. Andrew looked dead faced at her confused by this behaviour. She felt his judgement and cleared her throat before driving back.
The precinct lecture room was a room for 30 people. A lectern with the precincts' insignia on it stood at the front with a screen to the left of it. The windows blinds were pulled down and the inbuilt roof lights were switched off. A man with short white hair in a central quiff stood at the front behind the lecture with both hands on either side. He wore a black suit with a red tie and a shirt. He had black glasses and a short hair white beard that grew around his mouth and up to his side burns. His name was Thomas Aldera, the lead director of the Manhattan precinct. "Listen up" all detectives in the room, including Allison and Andrew, sat upright and dropped any activities they were doing. "We are dealing with a very sensitive case today, we must keep this case as quiet as possible and that is why I have chosen you all to orchestrate this case." His hands raised as he expressed an open arms gesture. The screen flicked to a photo of the deceased Summer Myers "Summer Myers was murdered in her apartment within the last couple days." His hand pointed towards Andrew and Allison "Detective Mulligan and Detective Cobara were the first to arrive on scene, Mulligan briefly called to get a forensics team to the site where they took various samples for use in the lab" Thomas looked at Allison and Andrew and gestured them to the front. "Andrew and Allison will now debrief on their information gathered upon inspection". Andrew walked towards the front, his face still the dead pan it usually was, his eyes flat. "Summer Myers was found positioned on a lattice with her eyes carved from her head and a gouge on her stomach." Allison paced back and forth from either side of the room and spoke "We believe that the killer and the victim must have had a personal connection. There were no signs of forced intrusion and no signs of struggle." Andrew leaned into the lectern folding one leg in front of the other and propping his body up on his arms "Summer died of a gunshot wound from a 9mm bullet lodged into her lungs just above her left breast." The screen to the left of Andrew flicked to a close up. The image of a hole dug through her chest was gory. Some fragments of skin folded into her chest and remnants of clothes were burned into her wounds. Andrews resumed "The exit splatter was found behind her on a wall. She was positioned on the lattice post mortem with her clothes still on before being dishevelled" His hand gestured towards the burned material around the bullet wound. Allison clicked a button which flicked the presentation to the next page and began speaking, "Item two, the stomach wound. This would we have presumed to be done with a hunting knife. This appears to be a similar prospect to ritual slaughter often done with animals, the position Summer was posed in also prompts this theory of a religious or ritualistic person or persons ""Any questions?" Spoke Andrew before scanning the room with his eyes. No hands raised and the room was in a moment of tranquil silence. "Thank you Mister Mulligan and Miss Cobara" said Thomas. As Thomas walked to the lectern, Andrew and Allison left and returned to their seats. If there are no more questions then you may all return to what you were doing, Andrew Allison please stick around. The room slowly emptied as the people inside began to chat about the case, crafting theories and discussing how they would advance.
Andrew and Allison approached Thomas. "You are going to have to go to the forensics lab to do a shoeprint, they want to keep track of incoming traffic. Good presentation though, concise and to the point." Both Allison and Andrew nodded before leaving the room.