The Phantom Killer

~Two~

I studied the note carefully- folding and unfolding it carefully. The paper had holes in it at some places- holes due to pressing with a pen. I turned the note around to see a mark of black ink. The letters were smudged in some places. Due to... water? No, sweat.

"Dylan...", I called. I had figured something out which would probably give me some clue about the killer's motives. I showed the note to him and asked him to look closely at it. I was about to tell him the significance of what they had overlooked.

"This killer wrote the message here at the crime scene, not beforehand."

"Mmm...", he replied, clearly puzzled.

"The note is torn rashly, and the murderer wrote the message placing his hand under it, and that is why it has holes. When the paper got pierced, the ink got stuck to his hand and by moving the paper in his hand, the paper got some ink in the back. And the letters are smudged due to sweat."

"But what good is that?"

"What good is that? There's a good probability that the killer hadn't planned this beforehand, hadn't planned it to be a game. The killer seems to have been in a hurry."

Just when my partner was about to reply, his phone buzzed. It was Bob. As Dylan put the phone near his ear, I tried recalling the pictures of the dead people. They could not have died just by looking at something. Something, somewhere, was missing. I knew just where I had to go next.

"Chris!", Dylan yelped.

"What is it?"

"It's another one! But this victim survived!"

My eyes widened in utter shock. Another attempt at murder on the same day. How many more was this murderer trying to kill? The victim survived. He would certainly come after him again. Whoever this killer was, he was not clever. He was killing those people based on pure emotions, and making mistakes in the process. His time was coming to an end. The victim survived. He would surely know about the killer. It was all over.

"Dylan, go to the mortuary and examine the bodies for any fingerprints or anything else. And come to the hospital where this surviver is, after it is done."

And we parted ways, a million thoughts racing in my mind.