Chapter Text
The signals split through the silence of the night, as it had so many times before. Startled out of his dreaming state but still not entirely lost in the situation he grabbed the cellphone, not paying attention to the screen before accepting the call.
"Yes?" He managed to press out, voice hoarse from sleep and its following dehydration. It wasn't necessary to specify the respondent, as those calling in the sleeping hours often know who they're trying to reach. And he too was certain of the caller's identity.
"Joseph", came a rough, familiar voice, a serious tone in the singular word. And yet, something that seemed like suppressed excitement in his following, "He's done it again, the fucker, you want me to pick you up on the way?"
No apologies for waking a man in the middle of the night, of course, but it wasn't necessary. Joseph wasn't even aware that he'd gotten out of the bed before he was standing, fumbling for his glasses at the nightstand.
"Yes", he repeated yet again trying to clear his voice, but the words of agreement were just as unnecessary- the rustles of his blankets shoved aside would be answers enough. "Someone called in?"
"Yeah, a neighbor heard noises and went over, probably missed the guy by a split second. The others are there already readying the scene. The caller said it was three of them."
"Three..?" Joseph repeated with a frown, hastily stepping into his clothes, keeping the phone pressed between his shoulder and ear. The clothes had been left over the back of a chair the evening before thankfully, so he knew where everything was kept.
"Yeah, so it can't be a coincidence, fucker's counting down. How the hell he manages to do all this before all the girls are recorded missing is beyond me though, I think only the Richards girl was. Among the last four, I mean."
"Perhaps he isn't keeping them as long as it would seem necessary", muttered Joseph, trying to tie his tie and button the vest without dropping the phone. He didn't want to put it on speaker knowing how thin the walls in the apartment were. The last thing he needed was someone being awoken from the conversation and coming down to argue crime solving versus beauty sleep. "Is it the same scene again?"
"That's what we'll see I guess. My money's on it, but I have seen just as little as you have, Jo. I'm almost at your place by the way."
Frowning at the nickname Joseph initially only gave him a grunt in response as he headed out towards the bathroom to wash the sleep out of his face, a left handed, unpracticed push to slick his dark hair, evidently shaped by pillows, back. To look presentable, despite his grumbles. The nickname would mostly be used to mock the younger of the two, following an obvious statement or in response to a stupid question.
"Make sure to park lightly, Seb", he responded but his half-hearted attempt to be equally snarky was unfortunately in vain. He'd used it too often in confiding tones before to turn its meaning around in this situation. "I don't want Hynes waking up and hassling me in the stairs again."
"Don't worry, I'll pull up out of the gravel." He could hear the grin in Sebastian's voice, further clarifying the futility at his attempt. A shiver ran down his neck, his collar suddenly too tight. "Now get your garments and get out, I want to get there before anyone lays their fingers on anything."
Joseph complied, throwing a jacket over his shoulders and stepping into shoes before heading out and locking the door behind himself.
"Taking the stairs?" Sebastian's voice echoed in his ear, amused and low.
"The elevator is broken again" he sighed in response with a shrug, knowing his question would be answered by the hard echo between the walls. "You keep your attention on the road."
He only got a chuckle in response but he could hear the focus behind it, knowing fully well that he needn’t worry about asking it of him.
"I'll be there in less than a minute", Sebastian finally said and hung up before any response was given, just as Joseph stepped out into the night air. The first breath was both startling and invigorating, sending the cold directly into his lungs and mind, and he blinked the last sand out of his eyes. Frost laid across the gravel of the yard and its nearby plants, and he could hear the sound as he hurried across it towards the street. The silence was deafening, as though all of Krimson was breathing in unison, their minds unconscious until morning. And some unconscious for all eternity, his mind added and he frowned, thoughts circling the girls they'd find, along with the nine they had already brought in earlier.
'Summer flowers in a cold fall', the press had named them. Newspapers screaming headlines to all the curious residents, the case seeming stranger by each day. Women walking in groups rather than daring the streets alone in the evening. Children called indoors despite their age not fitting the image. Summer flowers. Their feet bare, dresses thin and spread out over the ground beneath them. Hair curly and red, forming wildly around their serene faces.
He caught himself staring into the light of his cellphone screen, checking the time, one hand absentmindedly searching for the notebook in the coat pocket. Whatever he had intended to jot down in the book it was interrupted and forgotten as front lights lit up the sidewalk and a car stopped in front of him. Opening the passenger door and sitting down without even a second thought, he fastened the seatbelt and leant back, almost intentionally keeping his eyes off the driver.
"All awake and ready?" grinned Sebastian and nudged at his shoulder. Looking over he could see something akin to morbid excitement shining out of his entire being. No, excitement would not be the right word to use, would it - intrigue would fit better. They had so few leads, and as horrible as it was to find new victims, it at least gave them something new to work with. In that sense, Joseph honestly shared the anticipation with him, knowing they also shared the quiet rage directed towards the murderer.
"All awake and ready", he responded, echoing his questions. "Were you at the bureau already when the call came?"
Sebastian groaned as though he expected to be scolded for the last few days lack of a proper bed to sleep in, an actual break from the investigation, but none came. Joseph wouldn't hassle him about that – not now; he knew the man would have slept just as little had he been in his wife and child's presence. Besides, this gave them the news quicker, and let them see the scene while it still was fresh. It was all positive.
"Yeah", Sebastian eventually admitted as Joseph’s lack of response seemed permanent. "Was looking over the reports again. I still can't believe the area range he's gotten these girls from. Those from Elk River, I understand, but when some are from further… It’s unusual."
Joseph murmured something about a well-travelled murderer, keeping his eyes on the road. The energizing cold outside had been replaced by the dull warmth in the vehicle, and coupled with the darkness and the soothing sound of Sebastian's breathing he felt his body reverting to a resting state. He tried to sit up to clear his head.
"Where are they this time?" he asked, throwing his older partner a glance.
The first five had been found in the city's park, laid out in a circle with their heads placed in the middle. The fallen, greying leaves around them accentuating the colors of their hairs and dresses, their eyes shut but faces tilted upwards to the skies. The four following had been laid out similarly, but near the edge of a cliff in the forest. A park bench and some meters worth of grass had separated them from the fall into the valley below. Less public, but still by a commonly used trail.
The guy clearly wanted to show them off, prove a point, something or the other, the profilers argued. In the same breath they'd remind themselves of the new, less public area and ask each other how that would fit the profile. They were so incredibly even in their opinions on the murderer, and yet in so much disagreement.
"You'll see for yourself", responded Sebastian as he threw the car into park, the lights from the crime scene ahead of them almost blinding in its sudden appearance. "We're here."