Penlight
Fleur snaps her head towards the brunette. “What did you say?”
“It’s not someone I know personally, just someone I’ve heard of.”
“Jesus Christ! Tell me who it is.”
“The last I heard…” Hermione shifts herself to face the blonde, leaning against the wall. “The police still hadn’t caught him. And the only reason I know that is because I was a suspect.
---
I’ll start from the beginning. The newspapers started calling him the ‘Jigsaw Killer’ but technically speaking, he’s not…not really a murderer. He’s never killed anyone. He finds ways to make his victims kill themselves.
I was at work, going over a patient with a couple of interns when my name was called over the intercom. There were two men in my office waiting for me.
“Dr. Ganger? I’m Detective Thomas, this is Detective Finnigan. Very impressive.” He did not actually look at me when he spoke, he just kept going over the degrees on my wall. His partner was sitting on the edge of my desk.
“Thank you. I do my best.”
“Sorry to interrupt you during the workday.”
“It’s fine, how can I help you, gentlemen?”
“Tell us where you were between the hours of 11 pm and 1 am last night, doctor.” He was pretty damn condescending. It irritated me a little bit.
“Why is it that you’re interested?”
“We’d like to ask you a few questions about it. For your sake, I think it’s better we do this down at the station. Would you like to follow us there?”
“Absolutely not. That’s out of the question, I just can’t leave while I have work to do. Besides, my mother is using my car today.”
"That’s okay! You can ride with us, Doc!” It was the first time Det. Finnigan spoke, and already I liked him more. He didn’t seem like he was accusing me with just his eyes.
“I’m sorry, you’ll have to tell me again. What’s all this about?”. I watched as Det. Thomas finally sat down beside Det. Finnigan, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a plastic bag. It was a pen, and when it came closer into view, I realized it was my penlight. Has my name, office number, and work address on it.
"Does this belong to you?”
And that’s how I found myself in the back of a police car. I knew I wasn’t being arrested, that they were merely questioning me, but it still had my heart beating faster than it had in a while. It was…uncomfortable. They were set on being dead silent, the only sound coming from the radio every few minutes or so. By the time we got to the station, I was completely on edge. They lead me into this room where they finally told me that my penlight had been found at a murder scene. I’m not dumb, I called my lawyer.
“And you have no idea how your penlight showed up at a murder scene?”
“Of course not!"
“I have to ask, what were you doing last night?”
“I was, uh, seeing someone."
"Look, if you can’t be honest with me-”
“I was visiting a friend. It wasn’t a patient, look what am I gonna do?”
“Well, as your lawyer and friend, I suggest you bite the bullet and tell them your alibi. Because no one is going to believe you later.”
That was five months ago.
---
Hermione took a deep breath, running her hand over her eyes. By now, Fleur had stopped caring that the floor was completely filthy and had laid on her side. She stared at the dead man as she waited for the other woman to continue.
---
Jigsaw had tried to set me up for murder.
But other than my penlight, there was nothing that could tie me into his ‘games’.
“Okay, we checked your alibi. It checks out.” Det. Finnigan said, Det. Thomas nowhere in sight.
“Good. Can I leave now?”
“We have one of the victims that managed to escape. Wanted to know if you wouldn’t mind sticking around and listening to his testimony.” He had pointed to the room on my right side. I could see Det. Thomas and another man sitting at the table. I couldn’t really see his face from where I was sitting, but there were obvious marks around the corners of his mouth.
“I’d like to help but-” He had cut me off, making it clear that I did not have a choice.
“We’d really appreciate it.”
And there I was, listening to this guy’s story. His name was, uh, I believe it was…
Harry! Harry Potter.
His story started kind of like ours. Woke up in a strange place, was tied down except it was to a chair and he had some sort of metal contraption on his head. His recording was on a tv instead of a tape but if I recall correctly, Jigsaw had started it off the same way. Said hello, explained what was happening- that the device on Harry’s head was essentially going to rip his lower jaw off unless he could get it off in time, that the key was inside the dead person in the room. However, Harry said that Jigsaw had ended the recording by saying two distinct phrases. “Live or die, make your choice.”
“They had been injected with an opiate overdose. Couldn’t feel much of anything.” Finnigan informed me. I
“You mean the dead person was actually alive the entire time?”
“Was.”
“What happened after you took it off?” Det. Thomas’ voice seemed louder than it had been during the previous questions.
Harry explained that this doll- a puppet Jigsaw had used during the video that played when Harry woke up, rode into the room on a tricycle. It congratulated him, saying something along the lines of how ungrateful people are to be alive and that he wasn’t one of them anymore. I can’t really recall what happened after that, Det. Thomas went on some rampage that Harry was a drug addict but that’s the gist of what I know.”
---
There’s a silence between the two women for a while, neither of them sure what to say next. Fleur sits up, stretching her back for a moment before she finally has something to say.
“And you’re sure it’s him? This…Jigsaw guy?”
“Yeah.” Hermione sounds despondent. “Yeah, I’m sure.”
“How do I know you’re telling the truth? You could have been the one who put me in here.” Hermione’s eyes lock with Fleur’s and there is a hint of irritation behind them.
“I’m in the exact same situation as you are.”
“Wrong!” Fleur jumps up, grabbing a piece of glass off the floor. It takes a moment for her to remember that the glass shattered when she smashed her broken saw around blindly. “You have one thing I don’t- information. Now you either tell me what is really going on or I’m going to cut you with this?” She’s full-on yelling. Hermione just stares at her blankly. “Do you hear me? I’ll cut you with…” Oh shit.
“What is it now?”
The glass came from the mirror on Fleur’s left side, and now that she’s holding a piece of it…
“It’s a two-way mirror.”