I Am Tired Of Being A Hero-Chapter 237: Malik’s thoughts

"You don’t want to fully come to the fact that this serial killer is operating on a cycle. Every week one kill, that means, from the time you found Emily Wilson, it means that he is holding another victim captive and she is undergoing inhuman torture, right now." Malik did not waste a single moment to rip open the bandage even without touching Arlen.

A pained expression crossed Arlen’s face and Malik sighed.

"I think that it is interesting you feel so guilty when the killer is probably having wine and cheese without a single shred of guilt." He decided to be kinder, considering this person is his friend’s lover and his lover’s brother. "Feeling guilty that you have not caught the killer. Are you an oracle hiding your power, or perhaps, a god? Did you hand the knife to the killer in some sort of hide-or-seek game?"

"Of course not. I don’t think that I am..." Arlen hurried to reply.

Ravi frowned and was about to step forward when Malik’s expression softened somewhat, "Then it is not your fault. Since you did not give the knife, then you must never feel like you did. Your pain right now is what this killer would enjoy the most and it would cause you to make mistakes in your haste. You are a detective, it is your job, not your life purpose, the only person answerable to the crime is the criminal."

The room was silent for a few minutes and Arlen sighed, "Thank you. You are right and I...know that." There was a sad smile on his face, of course, he knew that it was not his fault that a madman was patrolling the street, looking for people to kill but even though he did know that, he could not help the guilt that he felt." It is just that feeling that if I am a little smarter, or faster or stronger, then I might have saved them. You understand what I am saying."

He looked at both Malik and Ravi who paused for a second and in an identical motion, shook their heads.

Arlen looked up to the ceiling, a helpless expression on his face. Ravi chuckled and reached out to hold his hand, interlocking their fingers to comfort Arlen. He knew that the kind of Arlen would have a hard time because of this case but there was little that he could do to help.

"I would not take any more time. This killer is operating within his own crime cycle. The interval between the last crime and the next crime can be divided into a cooling period and a fantasy intensification period. After that, the killer will kill again." fɾēewebnσveℓ.com

Arlen nodded, "We speculate that he is holding his victims for a week, killing them on the seventh day. There is no cooling period. From the amount of victims we have, he kills every week."

Malik nodded, "That week is his cooling period. The torture is the appetizer before the big meal. The big meal is the murder in the public."

Ravi frowned, "But he is a sadist. When he killed them publicly, they did not suffer."

"But they did. They bleed to death. Can you imagine it? You were drugged and you wake up in a basement, an abandoned house, or a shed, you scream for help and nobody comes. Nobody can hear you, the only person who can is a madman who tortures you and starves you. You keep up screaming, praying that someone could hear you, someone can help you. Then one day, he takes you out. You are probably seeing sunlight for the first time in a while, you can feel the pain in your stomach and you can feel the blood from where he slashed you but it pales in comparison to what you have suffered in a long time. And people, people are here. They can help you, they can save you so you stretch your hand and you cry out for help but they all ignore you. They pass by as if it is none of their concern, like you are lower than an ant, their gazes fleeting above you like you are not even with the air. You know the most painful thing to a human is when their hope is completely crushed to pieces, if you can look into their eyes at this moment, you could see their soul dying. Such a sight, can a sadist avoid it? That is the ultimate pleasure to the killer." Malik’s voice was light as if he was describing how one made poached eggs.

This person is so dangerous. Arlen confirmed again in his mind as he felt a trail of goosebumps.

"The two of you should not stare at me like that. From this, you can notice a few inconsistencies, can’t you?"

"He did not leave. Although eyewitness testimonies claimed that, a car drove up, as you said how could he miss such a sight? Either he came down from the car or he parked somewhere and came back to the sidewalk. Yet nobody could recall him..." Arlen narrowed his eyes, he was extremely focused as he dissected Malik’s words, "That had been something we have been pondering about. The killer killed so many people in public, even though it was rush hour and everyone had where they were going, I don’t believe that human beings are so cold and callous that they would ignore someone in so much pain."

"Humans are that cold and callous; they can easily disregard someone’s pain and ignore someone’s suffering. They hear a child’s screaming and crying and they close their windows but you are right in a way, most humans no matter how cruel they are would show their most generous side in public. Even if they would ignore a case of violence when they are at home, or in public, they would stand up for the victim. If they saw her and could not help her, it was most probably because they could not."

"They could not. Are you saying that we are dealing with a hypnotist? A mutant."

"Not a hypnotist." Ravi said, looking at Arlen, "Nobody in Davenport can hypnotize that many people so easily. Well, Nobody but you, Malik."