Moonlight Symphony

Four

The media exploded following this incident with police considered as heroes for closing the famous case of the Moonlight. Mael, having served as an expert was called to share his opinion in this matter.

“I do not believe that we have solved the secret of the Moonlight. It just seems ridiculous that a carefully calculative individual would be so stupid as to pass out in front of the doorsteps of a woman he had just killed. He definitely fits the profile, but there is something not right,” said Mael to the interviewer.

“Mael, are you suggesting that the person responsible for the deaths behind the Moonlight Symphony is still out there?” asked the interviewer, as people gathered threw their questions left and right.

“All I'm saying is . . . this incident in particular followed a different pattern. We may have caught the criminal, but we don't know for sure, thank you no more questions,” answered Mael, as he got up and made his way out.

***

Mael was getting impatient. It had been more than thirty minutes since they started the interrogation, the room was getting hot and tension filled the atmosphere, so much that you could almost grab it by the hand.

He and Jack were both standing in front of the culprit, alone in a room. He was a young man, and his eyes drowned in red. A camera was constantly filming everything.

His gaze landed on the culprit once again, who was sitting near him. For thirty minutes, they didn't manage to get a single thing out of him.

“These handcuffs are really tight,” the culprit said, breaking that momentary silence.

“We are not getting anywhere here,” Jack let out a suppressed sigh, his eyes narrowed.

Mael could see straight through anyone, but this person had an eerie vibe to him. He couldn't be the one behind the Moonlight cases.

It would require nerves of steel to brutalize and injure someone to that level of accuracy, this culprit wreaked of inexperience.

“Your handcuffs will remain tight if you don't cooperate,” Mael said to try to agitate him if anything, he knew that there was no reasoning with this man.

“Yeah, that's right, you little cunt. Maybe I need to punch you until you are out of teeth?” Jack asked.

Mael noticed that the culprit would look at the camera at least twice a minute. His body language was pretty obvious. At that rate, they would never get anything out of it.

“Jack, please wait outside,” Mael said.

“What? Why?”

“Please,” Mael gave him an impatient look.

Jack trusted Mael, although he had no idea what he was up to. Jack waited patiently outside, as officers passed by. Why was Mael leaving him out of the action?

Jack remembered his words at the bank, that it would be the last time he would listen to him, but he couldn't barge in again, so he did the next best thing.

There was a second door to the same room on the other side. Jack walked towards the door. No one was around him. He firmly tried to open it, but was locked.

He was completely certain that the same door was unlocked when they first started the interrogation. What the hell is Mael doing in there? Jack thought.

When Jack went back to the first door, he saw Mael coming out of it. He had a very calm expression.

“So?” Jack asked.

“He confessed. I don't have it on camera, but it doesn't matter. That's all I need” Mael said.

“What? What do you mean? If we don't have proper proof this will take us nowhere and you know it,” Jack implied.

“If you won't help me with this, I don't mind. I have a plan and I will follow it,” Mael said. “He gave me his address to continue our investigation. He also gave me this.”

Mael showed Jack a tiny key that would unlock the front door of the culprit's house. They had to be as subtle as possible while proceeding.

If he was not responsible for all the crimes, the real killer could be watching every single movement they did.

“Well, I am going to report this to the–”

“No. You will not. We will go on our own,” Mael said.

“I guess this is another one of your genius ideas that a dumbass like me cannot get. Would you mind explaining to me why the f*****g hell would we go on our own?” Jack asked, visibly annoyed.

“We are so close . . .” Mael mumbled before he took a pause. “Do you think we would ever have come so close to solving this mystery had we played by the books Jack?”

Jack shook his head, but then nodded. Mael might've been crazy, but he was one of the best detectives that he has ever known. He must have a point, I hope, Jack thought.

***

The GPS tracked the direction and they headed for it in Jack's car. It was nice a neighborhood, which only made things weirder. Both of them were dressed as civilians and didn't have their guns in a visible spot.

“Are we in the right place?” Jack said.

The building was in a very good condition. No one seemed to be at home at that moment. It was pitch dark. Mael started walking casually to the front door, as his partner was looking for something to be out of place. He couldn't really find anything that called his attention. Everything was simply normal.

The door opened and it was dark inside. Mael turned a flashlight on. A large living room, filled with nice and modern furniture that smelled sweet with notes of vanilla and almond.

“Stay close,” whispered Mael.

They slowly walked inside of the living room, trying to cover the ground. Drawers had the culprit's documentation and all sorts of papers, but nothing that could help their investigation. A TV, some ornaments, nothing helpful.

“I can't believe that fucker lives in a place like this, he does not deserve it,” Jack said.

“Quiet. We don't know if we are alone,” Mael whispered.

They moved to the kitchen. With his flashlight, Mael noticed that the dishwasher was full of dirty dishes. It seemed like someone had visited the house recently, they went over his room, the bathroom, and even the garage. Everything was completely normal.

“He confessed that there is something of interest in this house. He wouldn't tell me what it was, but I'm positive it's here,” Mael said.

“We inspected every single room. Unless it's a secret room,” Jack said.

Mael thought that it wasn't a crazy idea. The culprit must have hidden some sort of evidence in a secret room. His house was so common that no one would expect that to happen. They both tried tirelessly to find any sort of entrance or trap door. They searched for several minutes, trying not to make a mess.

“Here, help me move this,” Mael asked.

“Are you kidding me? It's huge.”

“Come on.”

They were in front of a large bookshelf. Both of them carefully moved it to find a narrow door behind it.

“How did you know it was here?” Jack asked, surprised.

“Well, very simple. Look at the carpet,” Mael said.

The corner of the carpet was slightly moved backward, as if someone walked there recently. There were black stains in the side of the bookshelf as well.

“Get ready,” Mael whispered.

Both of them drew their weapons. The door didn't have a lock, so it opened with a simple push. Jack quickly covered his nose.

“What the f*****g hell is that smell!” Jack asked.

Mael was visibly shaken too. It smelled like rotten flesh, that aged at least a dozen years. In front of the door was a staircase. Mael walked downstairs and found himself in a basement. He slowly illuminated the room with his flashlight, kind of expecting what he was going to find.

“They're all here,” Mael said.

At least fourteen corpses, some of them mutilated, were carelessly piled up in a corner. Those were all the victims that went missing. Some faces were unrecognizable, but it was obvious.

“Mael, look at that. That's from the blond girl. I remember that bracelet,” Jack said.

Alongside with the corpses, there was a human hand. It had its nails done and a shiny silver bracelet. Jack was right: it belonged to the recently killed blonde woman.

“We did it, the case is solved!” cried Jack.

“I wouldn't be so sure about it,” Mael stated.