The Crime System

A Case of Revenge

Luke stood there for a long moment, watching their backs fade down the hall. He didn't want that future. He had to see this through—prove to himself and everyone else that he was capable of more than cold case limbo. No way would he end up like Aaron and Adam, grumbling and giving up.

He had made up his mind: he would go toe-to-toe with Priscillia and Team B, holding nothing back. Seated at his desk, Luke focused intently, listening in on every move they made, so absorbed that he'd forget even the most basic necessities, like bathroom breaks.

Just as he suspected, Priscillia and her team zeroed in on Aaron Dawson and Adam Mercer's latest piece of evidence. They quickly honed in on the source of the one-sided film, a type of specialty material rarely imported. Within a matter of hours, they had already traced it to every recent buyer in the area. The entire team seemed to mobilize for the task under Priscillia's lead, investigating each buyer with impressive speed.

But when the results came back, they were like a string of bad omens—each worse than the last. Turns out, the film had been purchased by performance groups. Some used it for magic tricks, others for setting up stage scenes. Though not many groups bought it, those that did ordered in bulk. And according to the distributor, this type of film wasn't cheap, which meant only specific people bothered with it. The problem was, within these performance groups, the film wasn't secured. It was just left in storage rooms, accessible to anyone—workers, performers, even audience members.

As messy as it was, chasing this lead was going to take an enormous amount of time and manpower. It was becoming clear this was a dead end. They'd gone back to square one.

When Luke heard this, despair washed over him. Even eavesdropping, he could feel the weight of hopelessness weighing down Priscillia's team. But there was no denying it: they had underestimated this criminal. Whoever was behind this was a mastermind—meticulous, ruthless, and leaving no trace. A true genius of crime.

Despite this dead end, Priscillia didn't give up entirely. She left two investigators to keep digging, though everyone else returned to the office.

The pressure on Priscillia was clear. Failing to solve the Maimed Case meant she could follow in her predecessor's footsteps and face forced resignation. Luke knew she had given it her all, reviewing every piece of evidence, retracing every possible lead. But with no sign of the culprit and not even a rough profile to work from, her spotless record seemed at risk of being permanently stained.

Dawn crept closer, and although her team kept at it, fatigue settled into the room. Conversations slowly faded. As Luke sat alone in the Team A section, he leaned over his desk, listening carefully for any sign of movement. But it seemed they had finally hit their limit.

"Holy s**t…" Luke muttered, turning his gaze toward his whiteboard, where a date was scrawled in bold letters: "5.26." May 26th. Last year, the first case had happened on May 22nd, followed by a second incident four days later, on May 26th. This year's crime fell on May 22nd as well, sparking the fear that this year would follow the same pattern with a fourth incident on the 26th. If that happened, the media would turn the whole thing into a storm, and they'd all be in hot water.

It was now past dawn on May 25th. If the perpetrator was truly planning another attack, they were running out of time. Fast.

But who was this criminal? Luke scratched his head, lost in thought. Beyond following Priscillia's direction, he had his own theories about the case.

In fact, he'd been holding onto a hunch—one that the reason this case was taking so long to c***k wasn't that the criminal was just good at hiding. What if Priscillia's approach was wrong from the outset?

For one thing, they had silently reached the conclusion that the culprit was male. Luke could see why: during the first case, the criminal had pulled a woman into a cramped electric-supply room in a crowded area. And the act of severing a hand in one swift motion? It seemed to point to physical strength. The assumption was that a female criminal couldn't have pulled it off.

But what if they were wrong? What if the criminal was, in fact, a woman?

Take the one-sided film from the BMW for example. The criminal went to great lengths not to leave a single hint—not even a silhouette. Why? What if even the slightest shadow would reveal that they weren't male, but female?

As this thought struck Luke, he felt a strange unease creeping in. Could it be that the criminal was this meticulous because any silhouette at all would give her away?

Beyond that, he also believed that Priscillia and her team had misinterpreted the culprit's motive.

The criminal had severed the hands of three women so far. But why? Priscillia had leaned toward the idea that the victims were chosen at random. There were no apparent connections between the criminal and these women—they didn't share workplaces, school backgrounds, or even the same social circles.

Priscillia had been thorough, too, digging for any mutual acquaintances the victims might have had. She found only one or two, none of which seemed significant.

So, the working theory was that their criminal was dealing with some type of mental instability, acting out some bizarre fantasy or compulsion. Perhaps a twisted sort of revenge against spendthrift housewives, or something along those lines.

But in his gut, Luke felt differently.

True, he was new to the department, but his ability to read a situation was no weaker than that of his seasoned colleagues.

The victims didn't know each other, and they didn't resemble each other in appearance, height, or background. They varied in every way but age, gender, and their families' financial status. If the criminal was acting out a perverted fantasy, wouldn't there be a pattern in the victims' looks? If this was about a grudge against spenders, surely they'd go after women who fit that profile.

And yet, the information they had showed that none of these women had any particular spending issues despite coming from wealthier households.

Luke couldn't shake his doubts about the team's assessment.

"What if the criminal doesn't have a psychological disorder?" he thought.

Because of his own past experiences, Luke had seen many cases rooted in personal grudges. Cases of revenge. And for reasons he couldn't fully explain, this Maimed Case felt familiar—too familiar, in fact. He sensed that the person responsible wasn't acting out of some deranged obsession. They were carrying out a cold, calculated revenge.

This wasn't a guess; Luke was sure of it.