Criminal Case One-Shots

The Ego, The Hypnotised, The Reaper, and The Penguin

C/W: Mentions of murder, dissociation (I think?), hypnotism.

– – –

"You think I'm your killer? Why would you ever think that?" Tess Goodwin asked, feigning innocence.

"Well, we know our killer's got knowledge in electronics and is a member of the University," Jones stated.

"Does that really narrow it down to me? My my, Inspector Jones. If you want to keep up with Lieutenant Payne, you need to try harder than that!" Tess taunted him.

It seemed to work. His frown deepened and Payne just sighed, not backing him up. Which was rather stupid of her, considering that the Rorschach Reaper could make people kill their family and friends.

"Well, we also figured out that the killer knows hypnotism–which is how they got three other people to kill, that they have A+ blood, and that they wear blue." Payne punctuated this by nodding to Tess' dress.

"It all points to you, Tess! No other suspect has all of those traits! Give it up!" Jones demanded.

"Ah, you've got me. Here we are at last, Lieutenant Payne, Inspector Jones! I put a lot of effort into my little game. I hope you enjoyed it!" The Reaper giggled.

Not a cackle like a witch, or a chortle like a maniac. It was like the cheeky giggle of a young woman who had gotten caught doing something like playing a harmless prank on a friend. It was quite dissonant to this hypnotising serial killer who was sitting in front of the detectives.

Her cheek-splitting grin contrasted their faces: Jones' angry frown and Payne's concealed look of disgust.

"So you're our killer, Tess. The one everyone's calling the Rorschach Reaper!" he snapped.

She rolled her eyes and shrugged. "It's a dull, unimaginative name, but what can I do? I didn't choose it. No one asked for my opinion!"

"What's your opinion of being under arrest for the murder of Madison Springer and hypnotising Misha Goshwalla, Penelope Rivera, and Taylor Kirby to kill Rani Goshwalla, Lisa Edwards, and Aaliyah Banks, respectively?" Payne asked.

"Hah, I don't care about those girls!" she scoffed. "It took you both so long to get to me. It was almost a disappointment, Lieutenant!"

The taller woman leaned forward, elbows on the table, hands steepled. "I no longer care about your opinion of me, Goodwin. I just want to–"

"Oh, come on! If I hadn't killed Madison, you would have never caught me! What happened to your ego, Payne?" the younger woman questioned, leaning in to match.

It was like looking at a warped mirror. What could have happened if a younger Nicola Payne turned out wrong? After all, she herself was once interested in the minds of criminals. At one point, she contemplated becoming a profiler before things changed on that fateful day.

A fateful day that came back to haunt her when she saw poor Madison's head explode. Just like when her grandmother... The fear and anger of those events came back, and she glared at the killer before her.

"My ego doesn't matter, Goodwin! Why the bloody hell did you do this in the first place? Why did you hypnotise those girls to follow your commands?"

Jones butted in, "And why are you revealing yourself now?"

"Simple. It's 'brilliance'."

The two detectives looked at each other for a second, confusion plastered on their faces before they looked at the Reaper again.

"What do you mean by that? 'Brilliance'?" he asked, his voice becoming shaky as the killer reached into her bra.

She leaned back into her chair with a calm expression as she watched their faces contort into horror as she unveiled what she had hidden in a place where no officer would search.