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Same victimology, and same postmortem carving, but the quote is different.

The rest is silence.

This sick bastard wrote that on her while she was alive. He left us a goodbye note.

“Did you cross-check the DNA against our updated case files, every unsolved, every open archive we have?”

“Already done, boss. Nothing matches.”

I lean closer to the screen, trying to see if anything isn’t making sense in this picture. “Check again. I want every profile, every cold case, and every piece of evidence running in the background. I don’t want to miss a thing.”

Rylan adjusts his glasses, zooming in on the frame. “All the leads match the previous cases. The chain marks, the positioning, the notes, everything is identical. Even the DNA lines up perfectly. But there’s no match, no name. Nothing.”

I crouched over the projection, squinting at the grainy photo on the screen. The victim’s body is sprawled awkwardly, everything feels faded, distant, almost unreal, but something is catching my attention.

“Zoom in here,” I say, pointing at the blue point on the ground next to the body.

The image enlarges, and then I see it: a tiny blue mark on the floor, almost invisible, blurred in the photo. “Closer, Rylan,” I add, and so he does. That blue mark looks like something the previous team didn’t notice. “What’s that?”

Rylan leans forward before replying, “Looks like a keychain? But it was found just outside the perimeter. Could’ve belonged to anyone.”

I shake my head. “No, look at the position; that’s too close to be random. Enhance it, Lena.”

She clears the image and the logo sharpens. It’s faint but readable enough.

“That’s…” Kyle squints. “St.Ellesta Academy. It’s in Seraphin Bay Island, off the East Coast. The place runs a federal criminology program, affiliated with the FBI.”

“You’re telling me the last potential trace our killer left was from a Bureau-connected training ground?”

No one answers.

“The case is reopened,” I say quietly.

“Damien?” Kyle asks. “You mean officially?”

“I’m going there myself.” I start gathering the files, then look back at Kyle. “You’ll take over everything here until I return.”

“Wait, boss, you can’t just⁠—”

“Any other questions?” I cut Lena off before she could add anything else.

Silence. Good.

I close the file and head for the door. “Lena, send the paperwork to HQ. Request an undercover operation in that city and attach everything we found today. They’ll sign it fast.”

She nods immediately, already typing.

“You three stay here. Kyle’s my point of contact, anything you need to ask or report, you go through him.”

No one argues.

“Once the clearance comes through, I’m heading out. If there’s a way to drag this bastard out of the dark, I’ll find it.”

Bobby, and every family torn apart by this monster, deserves that much.

3

Mireya