Mask of Death

Convicted

FRUSTRATION GOT to him. None of the investigated suspects fit the profile they were looking for. They were all simple-minded criminals. He looked into the crime scene. It was rented by a certain Andrew Williams. All the apartments rented where all the other bodies of the same condition were under this name, but there were no records of this person that settled in this town, neither in nearby towns.

There were a lot of things bothering him about the investigation. It even got its way to his mind. He dreams of being in the crime scene, seeing the woman like its trying to talk to him.

ONE NIGHT, he dreamt he was inside the crime scene. He knew it because of the same vanilla scent of the candles that covered the place.

He moved like its an automatic response to the situation. He went to the kitchen cabinet and marked it with the chalk inside his pocket. He pricked his finger on the sharp edge of the cabinet door, blood dripping on the chalk. Leaving the chalk on the counter, he washed his hands.

The door slammed hard and he wakes up. At first, he thought he was just making his own illusions. But the he thought he was trying to solve the mystery himself. He recalled the details of his dream. He remembered drawing a line with the chalk.

There were five sets of complete tallies and a the sixth one having three lines.

The 28th mark on the kitchen cabinet door.

He asked the chief for the crime scene to be investigated again. But this time, he was investigating too. He checked the kitchen cabinet and saw the tally. The very same one from his dream.

Why? Why did I see this in my dream when it was actually the first time I'm seeing this for real?

The forensics examined the room again. There were hand prints found on the kitchen counter, and the knobs of all the doors in the house. There were new prints found on the second examination, matching the ones already found.

It was his.

He was the only one who touched the counter with his bare hands, leaving prints above his first ones. But he wasn't the one who opened the door. So that's what lead them into making the investigator the primary suspect. How else would it have gotten there without them knowing? Another thing was that they were all wearing their gloves before entering the premise.

IN THE interrogation room, the police chief was the one who questioned him about all the evidences that point to him. Even the blood found on the chalk matched his.

He was sure of it now.

His dreams were alterations of his memories. But he can't remember even meeting the woman, or all the others. He doesnt remember ever renting that apartment nor bringing around the evidences found in the crime scene.

He was locked in for a few days now. The investigation is still ongoing. He was in shock when he was shown the footage of the camera of a nearby bar. He went out with a woman, rode his car and drove off. The car was seen by other cameras and stopped by the apartment, the crime scene.

He was trying to find a person on his within his reach all this time.

It was me. He was now sure of it.

In his defense, he doesn't remember even being in that room with that woman. He never even went to the bar for the past month. Of course nobody would believe him now. The evidences were all pointing to him.

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