The Twelve Crime Countdown

Eleven Pipers Piping

Hannibal's POV

"Well, the plan worked." Will frequently checked the hallway for (Y/N). His voice remained low and quiet like they would pop out at any second. "Good work." His head dropped to look at his leather dress shoes.

"Yes, it proved to be worth the effort." The ends of my mouth gently lifted to form the faintest of smiles, hearing them excitedly perform a personal scavenger hunt. The fruits of our hard work's harvest proved to be bountiful.

The bedroom door squeaked and footsteps came to the living room with me and Will. "Hey, I was thinking that maybe we should go to the gift shop. We're stuck in the clothes that we came here in right now, so it would be good to see what kind of clothes merchandise we can get." They leaned their shoulder against the hall's opening.

"They have that?" Will craned his neck to look at them.

"Yeah, they do. This resort has been around for years and they need to pay for the upkeep somehow." They walked with languid steps to sit next to me on the couch.

"It's not exactly our usual, but it's better than staying in the same dirty clothes day after day." They turned to me. "Right, Hannibal?"

"Yes, it would be more appealing." I could see Will's eyes fixed on us two.  The book fluttered shut in my hands. "When should we be going?" I abandoned the hardback book on the low glass table.

"Well, I suppose we could go now." They pondered for a short second. "What do you two think?"

"I'm not busy." Will sat up from his relaxed state from before.

"Alright then, I'll get the key." They sprung up from their seat before going to the front door. They had a pep to their step as they went to snatch the keys from the wooden bowl next to the door.

Both Will and I came to the door to join them. We let them lead the way as they eagerly took in the sights and followed signs. "It should be on the bottom floor, I think." They left our sight, making a sharp turn around the corner.

"Look at them go." Will scoffed in both disbelief and amusement.

"It is good to see that they have been able to enjoy themselves here." I sped up my pace a little to catch up with them. Will did too.

They had stopped at the end of the hall, waiting for us to return to their side. When we caught back up, they turned back to their journey.

They held onto the mahogany railing with one hand, making their slow descent. "I think I could see the place from here." They squinted to the left side. "The clothes could be like a fun souvenir to take home." They offered to brighten the situation.

A bell chimed over the gift store's door as we came in. The little shop had a wide selection of items on its shelves and racks. Soon a light blue sweatshirt caught their eyes.

"There are some clothes." They shifted between the crowded store and its few customers inside. The corner had a wide arrangement of socks, shirts, and pants.

"It's like they put a convenience store in this resort." Will kept to my side, surveying the section.

Will came forward towards a rack, tugging on a few shirts. The multitude of shirts rested on his fingers and snatched my wrist with the other. He pulled me toward the men's changing room.

He slammed the door shut behind us, dropping the pile on the small counter. He twisted around and looked at me with blatant urgency.

"Before we came here, (Y/N) said something about Freddie Lounds being here. How much do you think she knows?" He passed the floor like he had already been caught.

"Now, Will, she can't possibly make the believable connection that we were the culprits to the case. I quietly reassured him.

One hand landed on his hip and the other took to his hair. "And the recording?... You told me that she recorded our session. You know, the one?"

"I made her dispose of the recording. It is out of her hands. Patient confidentially is important to me after all." I walked around him to that little counter. "Now, try on your clothes." I offered him the first shirt that got into my hands.

"We planted evidence linking the suspects to that crime four states away. She would sound like an average reporter. Making up content to seem factual for viewers."

I followed his actions to try on shirts too. "You have nothing to worry about, Will."

"Alright, you got everything?" (Y/N) came to us with bundles of a couple of clothes sets.

"Yeah," Will also had clothes in his arms.

"Okay, let's go buy these and head back to our room." They wandered the small aisles until we found the checkout counter.

"Hey, how are you?" The man behind the counter asked, already getting to work, scanning the clothes.

"I'm doing okay, you?" They turned and helped Will put his things on the counter.

"I'm doing fine." The scanner's beeping filled the silence. "Alright, that'll be $65.74." Plastic bags rustled and crinkled when he put the clothes into large bags.

I plucked my black wallet from my coat pocket, pulling out a hundred-dollar bill.

"Hmm..." They dug through their wallet. Their head down diligently counting to find the perfect amount.

"Here you go, sir." I handed the bill to him.

"Oh?" Their head popped up. "You didn't have to do that, Hannibal. I would have paid."

"Would you like your change?" He cut into the short conversation.

"No, thank you."

Will pulled the plastic bags off the counter. They hung loosely in his hands. "Let's get going back to our room."

"What should we do when we get back to our room?" They joined us as we left the store. "Should we-" Pure darkness filled the space as the power went out.
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1008 Words