The Echo Within

Chapter Ten - Delusion or Truth

It was nearly 11:00 p.m. when Detective Jace Marlon leaned back in his chair, eyes half-lidded and mind sluggish from the monotonous shuffle of paperwork. The fluorescent lights in the Unit Nine office buzzed softly overhead, casting sterile white light over the scattered case files and coffee mugs.

Unit Nine operated like a well-oiled machine again—Eric Langley with his youthful eagerness, Rayna finding her rhythm in profiling, Ross keeping the pace steady. Even Ellis Vale, ever quiet and observant, seemed at peace. But peace was fragile. And it shattered that night.

A call came in.

Rayna picked it up, her expression turning unreadable as she nodded silently, then held out the receiver. "Jace, you’re going to want to take this."

He took the phone. "Detective Marlon."

The voice on the other end trembled. "I—I don’t know if I should even say anything. But I saw him. That night. I saw a man in a CIU coat."

Jace’s heart skipped. "Ma’am, slow down. Who are you? Where are you calling from?"

"My name is Clara Reed. I’m a nurse. I was on my way to a night shift at Queen’s Mercy Hospital. I walk past 19th and Elridge every night. That’s where I saw him—just standing there outside that alley. Right before the sirens."

Jace felt the room tilt. That was the street where the copycat had been found mutilated.

"Did you see his face?"

A pause. "I saw enough. He was tall, had this sort of calm… but cold expression. Brown hair. Pale. I’ve seen him before. I think he’s with you guys. He wore a CIU coat. Looked like... like the man from that press conference you all held. The quiet one—Vale, I think his name is."

Jace stared ahead, unmoving.

"Please don’t tell him I called. Please. But something was off. He looked at me before turning away. I thought I was imagining things, but then the news said someone was murdered there that night."

He reassured her gently, got her information, and hung up.

Maya had walked over during the call. "What was that? You look like you’ve seen a ghost."

"A nurse. Says she saw someone in a CIU coat at the scene of the copycat murder. Says he looked like Ellis."

Maya didn’t speak for a long time.

When she finally did, her voice was low. "She might be wrong. It’s dark at night. People misremember. And Ellis... he wouldn’t."

But neither of them believed what they said.

Ross sat with the witness statement in his hand the next morning, his mouth a firm line. Clara Reed had been brought in for questioning—not as a suspect, but for clarity.

"You're sure about what you saw?" he asked her.

She nodded, arms wrapped around herself protectively. "Yes. I’m not crazy. I know what I saw."

"And you’re saying this man looked like Detective Ellis Vale?"

"I don’t know names. I’m not saying he did it. Just… he was there. That coat. That face."

Ross exchanged a glance with Maya and Jace.

"We appreciate your help," Ross said finally, voice clipped. "We’ll look into it."

But as soon as Clara left the room, Ross snapped the file shut. "We’re not dragging one of our own through the mud over a shadowy figure seen from a distance."

"With all due respect, Captain," Jace said carefully, "we don’t even know what Ellis was doing that night."

"We’re not starting a witch hunt," Ross snapped. "We barely put the Echo mess to rest. You want to tear the department apart over a maybe?"

Jace clenched his jaw. Maya placed a hand on his arm to steady him.

Ross continued, more measured. "We’ll file this under anonymous tip. That’s all."

But it wasn’t all. Not to Jace. Not to Maya.

That evening, Ellis Vale sat alone on the rooftop of the CIU building, a cigarette glowing between his fingers. He rarely smoked. Only when something needed burying.

He’d heard the whispers. The looks. People didn’t say it out loud, but he saw the shift in their gaze. Suspicion was a subtle predator.

Maya found him there.

"Hey."

He turned, that same unreadable expression on his face.

"You alright?" she asked.

"Fine," he replied. "Just thinking."

She joined him, watching the city lights below.

"A witness claimed to have seen someone who looked like you near the alley where the copycat died."

Ellis didn’t react. "People see what they want to see."

Maya studied him. "And what if they saw something true?"

He looked at her then. "Then I’d say they mistook the truth for something they couldn’t understand."

Maya didn’t know what to say. His words weren’t a denial. But they weren’t a confession either.

She left him with the silence.

Meanwhile, Jace sat in the dim light of the records room, reviewing everything they knew. Every Echo crime scene. Every bit of footage. Every time Ellis was absent or alone. There were gaps. Not enough to accuse. But enough to question.

And that terrified him more than anything.

Because if Echo was still out there… and if Echo was closer than anyone imagined… then the blood trail wasn’t finished.

It had only just begun.