Psycho

Unit 26

there's only five chapters left after this one. enjoy.

Disclaimer: This story contains violence, gore, sexual content and strong language. Subjects covered might trigger some. If you are very sensible or easily offended, please abstain from reading.    

The atmosphere in the room was so heavy that no one dared to talk. Next to Vincent Talley, Jesus Harrigan's chair was empty.

Quest crossed his arms awkwardly, feeling like the elephant in the room was his presence. But he kept quiet, thinking that, perhaps, it was his team's way of giving a minute of silence to their deceased friend.

After a few minutes of painful silence, Vincent spoke with a voice he wanted professional but turned out slightly shaky.

"Jesus Harrigan, 36 years old, died at approximately 10:40 pm. Broken nose, bruises on his face and lower abdomen, familiar number shaped wounds on his cheeks as well as stabbed throat, hands and feet."

He had said it without pausing and his lips pursed when he finished. The others nodded and Tucker indicated Dallas to put the pictures on the table. Reluctantly, he delicately placed each shot in front of him.

"So, um..." Zarah continued, coughing awkwardly. "Alpha used old rusty nails to put Jesus on the cross. If we're logic here, Alpha didn't already have those nails and that hammer with him. If they were his, he would've gone home with it, like he does with his penknife. But he likes to use other people's stuff, as we could see with Carrie Drysdale and Dave Evans, Emily Fontaine, Guy Hurell and Howie Ikin. Also, if they were his, they wouldn't be old and rusty. That led me to wonder where he could've gotten those supplies. And then I remembered Guy Hurell and Howie Ikin's secret hideout. Alpha could've easily stolen old tools from there. As for the cross, I noticed there were old wood pallets near the morgue's back entrance. This is probably what Alpha used. There were also signs suggesting a fight. Though, there were no fingerprints on the weapon, no blood that could be matched with the DNA we already have of Alpha, and basically nothing about him. So here's my theory: Jesus ended his day quite late, when he comes out the hospital, Alpha corners him, Jesus is way smarter than his past victims so they pick up a fight, but then Alpha wins and next thing we know..."

Zarah pointed to the full-body shot of Jesus nailed to the cross. Dallas shuddered. Tucker grunted.

"What I need to know," he said through gritted teeth, "is why Jesus Harrigan was killed when Sir Kadner over here gave us all fake identities!"

His tiny menacing eyes were staring angrily at him. The others in the room didn't say anything but looked down at their knees.

"No, seriously, I need to know!" Tucker said louder and with more aggressiveness this time. "Was that another one of your sacrifices, Kadner? Was it necessary to the well-being of this case? Did this help us in any fucking way?!"

Zarah gestured Tucker to calm down and stop talking. But it didn't seem like it was what he was going to do.

"Jesus Harrigan was one of my best men. He was young, he was talented, and he fucking loved his job."

Quest didn't move. He just listened. Wade wasn't defending him this time.

"I hope you realize this is entirely your fault, Kadner." Tucker spat.

"Tucker..." Zarah intervened. "Everyone is equally upset about Jesus but throwing the blame on one person isn't, in any way, shape or form, going to help more with this case. If we want to actually get somewhere, we have to leave our disputes behind and dig forward."