Michelle sat at her desk pondering, going over a letter she had just received, it wasn't even hand written. It was like someone cut newspaper letters and glued them together, that seemed like a serial killer motive. She scoffed and stuffed it deep into her drawer, and kept jotting down notes to give back to her Captain.

It was difficult to believe this case was lasting longer than she thought, how did a kid that everyone knew, just go up and missing only for her body to be found a few days later. This was a small town, so how could someone in this tiny town get away with murder? Michelle noticed Ryan was shuffling through some paperwork, she spoke to him. "Whatcha got there chief?" She asked.

"Just some paperwork, looks like Gibbons only has a minor issue on his record."

Michelle gave him a puzzled look, "What is it?"

"Driving under the influence, luckily no one was killed or injured. He did, however, run his car into a fire hydrant." Ryan replied.

Michelle laughed, "No wonder he's grumpy, his ego is destroyed from hitting a fire hydrant."

Ryan chuckled along with his partner, "Exactly." As they laughed, an officer walked up to them. "Detective, the Captain wants to speak to the both of you." She said.

"Thanks Officer Reeds, c'mon Collins." Ryan and Collins got up going to the Captain Quinn's office walking in. The woman sat at her desk grimacing over paperwork, "You two come in. Sit down." She said.

Ryan and Michelle sat down in front of him, they felt like two students that were sent to the principal's office. The older woman glanced at them, with an intimidating aura being sensed throughout the air. "Have you two found any more evidence in the Blair case?" She asked.

"Actually yes, the CSU team pulled a print off the barrel that Alice was stuffed in, but when we ran it through the system it turned out to be nothing." Ryan said.

"I've got the press breathing down my neck, and a family in mourning who needs justice for their loved one. If you two aren't going to move this case forward, I'll pass it onto someone else to get the job done for you." Captain Quinn warned.

In a way she was right, this investigation should've been open and shut. Not to be disrespectful to The Blair's, or other victims, one of them being Alice. They should've caught the murderer by now. "We promise you, Captain Quinn, we'll get the job done." Michelle told her employer.

"Good. Now get out of my office." The two of them got up and retreated back to their desks, Michelle couldn't get her mind off that letter she received, she had a weird sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. She got Ryan's attention and pulled the letter out and put it out in front of him.

"What's that?" Ryan asked, he took the piece of parchment and began unraveling it, it was the same letter he received. An exact replica, the murderer was "warning" her too. But why? Sure she was assigned to the case, but why was she being targeted? Ryan couldn't help but re-read the letter, over and over again.

Hello officcer ColliNs, YoU DoN'T Know mE, but I KnOW yOU. thAt girl, aLice blaiR, her scReamS and plEadS FoR Her BROtHeR werE quiTe, ExcitInG. it madE the gaMe EveN mORe eNjoyaBle, HER FATE wAs met, and If You InTErFere, YOuRS wILl be tOO. I'm wArnInG YOU OFficCer, dOn't tesT me. ~X

This guy wants to play games? Then game on, Ryan thought. Ryan heard his radio go off and heard the call for him and Michelle. There was a report, someone found a body. He and Collins rushed to their feet and bolted out of the precinct and went to the crime scene.
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Ryan and Michelle exited the car, a melancholy tone immediately taking over the vibe. They walked further into the alley, and met up with Dr. Thomas. He greeted them with a grim expression, "Hey Ryan, Michelle." Ryan watched as Ezekiel examined the body, the woman looked like she was in her late twenties, she had multiple lacerations and contusions. She looked exactly how Alice looked in her autopsy.

Ezekiel sighed, "This woman died close to nine or ten hours ago, it's rather sloppy, the urge to kill was too strong for this guy, I think he might've screwed up." He told the other adults.

"We may be dealing with a serial killer, he or she is going to get another urge, and they're going to kill again." Michelle said.

"Wait- Ezekiel you said guy, does that mean the killer is a man?" Ryan asked.

"Precisely, I lifted a print from that wall over there and found a footprint indent in the mud over to your left. Our guy wears size twelve." Ezekiel said, pointing out his findings.

"We're close, I can feel it. There's a connection to this whole thing, Ezekiel can we meet you in the lab? We need to show you something." Ryan told his friend.

"Sure, I better get back to the morgue, I need to perform an autopsy, and do a lot of paperwork." Ryan and Michelle nodded, heading back to their car. Getting inside and sighing heavily simultaneously. "The letters and this woman's death are linked to our killer, he screwed up and now we're one step closer to catching him."

"Why would he send letters to us? How was he able to walk into the precinct and give us the letters without being detected?" Michelle contemplated.

Then it clicked, the gears in Ryan's mind were spinning, it all made sense now. "We have a mole." Ryan replied.
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Meanwhile with Scott he was heading to his second session with Dr. Hendricks, he was dreading it of course. He hated having to sit in a room and talk to a woman about his problems (or just anyone), while he'd rather be anywhere else but at therapy. He felt like all the healing crystal, meditating bull crap was poisoning his brain and WAS pretty much pointless.

Why aren't his parents doing therapy? They have a lot more problems than he does. He can tell something's wrong, they're barely making eye contact, and barely talk to each other. Micheal and Laura always have a tell when they're upset at each other. Scott had always been able to tell when they were about to argue, so he'd leave the room or just go to Tyler's house to escape it all.

He was not about to deal with his parents hogwash, so hanging out with his best friend was the only solution, or reading a Sherlock Holmes tale, once he got to his appointment Dr. Hendricks took him back to her office and sat in front of him at her desk. "So, Scott, how are you doing from our last session?" She asked.

"I'm fine, same answer I gave you last time." He replied, sighing and glancing up at the clock. This was going to be a long session. When really, it was only a thirty minute session. "Well, how was school? Your parents told me about that boy Austin Quinn."

Scott rolled his eyes and scoffed, "My parents seem to break the patient-doctor confidentiality."

Dr. Hendricks neatly folded her hands, "They didn't break that rule, they just mentioned it after our last session."

"Oh. Okay." There were a few moments of silence before Dr. Hendricks spoke, "I know that your sister has been gone for quite some time now, how have you been doing with her having passed on?"

"One, you don't have to beat around the bush, you can say dead, and two, I've been fine I guess. Mom and dad have been secretly arguing, or, at least, they think it's a secret. They both suck at lying." Scott said, as he looked around the room, seeing different colored pictures and bins full of toys and games.

Dr. Hendricks nodded, silently telling him to continue, as she was writing something down. "All they ever do is just avoid each other, in reality, I'm not the one who needs therapy. It's them, it honestly, gets so boring and mind blowing that two people can argue over the tiniest thing." He explained.

"I'm just tired, that's it. I'm tired of my parents fighting, I'm tired of seeing my sister everywhere I go, and I'm tired of therapy." Scott wanted to get more off his chest, but didn't want to complain. Everyone around him probably didn't want to hear him do the "oh woe is me" act. They'd probably perceive him as weak and pathetic, that was definitely the last thing he needed.

Soon the thirty minutes were up, and it was time to go home, eat dinner, sleep, go to school, and repeat, Scott wished he'd just be left alone, but no, everyone had to keep asking the same stupid question. "Are you doing okay?" Scott could say: "What does it look like? Do YOU think I'm okay?"

But, he doesn't, instead he just says...

"I'm fine."
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The End of Chapter 12