Chapter 3
Lily glanced towards the newbie curiously but otherwise did not say anything else towards him, or the Director, or the Director's right hand man.
"As you know, there have been ten murders, before this current one. We have cased the scenes of each, we have examined witnesses, testimonies, alibies, and yet nothing seems to be coming of anything. there is no forensic evidence, there is no link between the victims. Originally, we thought it was gender motivated, but with the recent...death...it is clear that we were wrong about that."
"Just...get on with it," The man said with a heavy sigh. Sirius turned to glare at him, but a stern look from Remus had him sheepishly staring at the projector again. James was grateful, they did not need to piss him off anymore than he was already clearly going through.
"Ah, well the first victim was a female by the name of..."
"No, no, no, no!" The man stood, kicking the chair back so hard it slammed against the wall, leaving Lily and Remus to both flinch slightly. "Pictures, Evans, show me the photos," The words were low, dangerous, and rife with fury. James hand no idea what was going on, but it was quite clear that both the Director and his second did, both slowly reaching fowards, to pull the stranger back down, him taking the Director's seat instead, with the Director standing behind him, hands on his shoulders.
"Right...This is the first victim." Lily clicked the button, and everyone winced as they were once more regaled with the scene.
As far as scenes go, this serial killer was spotless. There was not a drop of blood eskew, a hair out of place. The corpse was still dressed, hair brushed, the only strange thing was once you undressed them, and there was the bigass slashes, one on the back, the other on the torso, going opposite directions. They had figured it was some type of ritual, but the amount of rituals including slash marks was so thick it was almost impossible to scavange all of them.
It would seem the stranger recognized them, his face going slightly paler than his current state. His fingers clenching into the armrest. Rosier bent down to whisper something which the other man flinched away from, glaring towards him.
"Next," Lily did so, and again, and again. Outside of the first photo, there was nothing, but James was excited. How could he not be? The man recognized the markings. Which meant he knew something...something that they did not know which meant that they would finally, finally get a clue.
"Next..."
"No," Crouch overrode it when they got to what would be the final victim. Lily's fingers paused right over the button. Glancing up, James saw the stranger being stared down gently by the two men. "Tell them what you know, before the last one."
"Barty, you are frightening me. What is going on?" James had to agree. It was odd.
"Just...just do it please. You will understand soon enough." There was a growl, low, angry, but the man finally relented.
"Fine," The words were breathless, irritated, and rife with annoyance. "It was a ritual amongst what used to be a low tier mafia group. Before they got a new leader, the group was known as Double T. Stupid name, if you ask me. Either way. It was their ritual. In that area, the only groups that were around, and still are, that made enough impact to be paid attention to where three. The group known as Double T, who had a change of leader, change of name, and change of ritual, and two even lower tier groups. One, did not kill, so it is logical to assume you can elimate them unless other evidence crops up. The other, was known for their mercinary contracts. Nothing neat or clean, something that Double T was well known for, and partially how they got to be as influential as they did. However, once the change of leadership happened, they changed the way they killed. they no longer do this, one slash one way, one slash the other on either side of the torso. Haven't for over two dozen years, actually. Their...method is no longer the same. That means the murderer is familiar enough to know how they killed, but not quite up to date, or they are trying to pretend they are not. Either way it is clear they know what they are doing, this method is not easy to execute."
"What is their method now?" Remus asked, and grey eyes clashed with brown.
"Much crueler." The words were softer now. He shook his head continuing. "Now an X is carved onto the back, and depending on the person, a flower is branded. The flower chosen is varying and depends on what the person is going to be used or needed for. The placement is also varying, the only constant is the X, which goes from shoulder to hip two ways. They are typically done over a longer period of time, if the person is considered to be a long term project, otherwise, it is done after their death. It is necessary to keep things neat, after all." The man looked disgusted as he spoke, which gave James a bit of a relief considering all the mafia esque information he had just given. He wondered how the man had come by this information.
"Anything special about the flowers?" Sirius asked, and the man did not even look at him while he responded...rather rude...
"No," The words were curt, and if possible even colder than before. "They simply stole the design from a..." The man's words paused..."A different group. Wanting to be special I suppose." They spit out the word as if it were a curse, and James had to flinch slightly, unable to hold it in.
There was a reason he was in witness protection, though, and James would hazard to guess this was why.
"Very well, thank you, Evans...the next slide."