Calls of a Serial Killer

NAME: JANESSA RUIZ

EMPLOYMENT: NATIONAL CENTER FOR THE ANALYSIS OF VIOLENT CRIMES (NCAVC) – BEHAVIORAL ANALYSIS UNIT (BAU)

TITLE: SUPERVISORY SPECIAL AGENT (SSA)

TEAM: UNIT CHIEF CORA HARINGER, SSA JUSTIN BATES, SSA MARISSA (MJ) JONES, SSA MATHIAS ESPINOSA

JANUARY 23RD, 2005

BEHAVIORAL ANALYSIS UNIT – QUANTICO, VA

3:55 AM

“911, what is your emergency?”

“H-hello? Yes, my wife is bleeding...It’s bad. I-I....I really need help.”

“Your wife is bleeding? Can you tell me what happened, sir?”

BRIEF SILENCE

“Oh God, it was me. I did this!”

“Okay, sir, can you tell me your name?”

“Jackson. I’m Marcus Jackson.”

“Marcus, can you tell me where you are? What’s the address to your location?”

COMMOTION IN BACKGROUND

THREE COUGHS

“No, no, no, this is wrong, this is all wrong. She wasn’t supposed to die!”

“Calm down, sir. I need you to tell me where you are.”

“Um...I-I-I don’t know. I’ve been missing for a while, I’m from Toledo. It wasn’t my fault, I swear! We’ve been kidnapped, he made me do it!”

“Marcus, is anyone with you right now besides your wife?”

“Um, no. No, it’s just us. He dumped us on the side of the road and gave me this phone – please, you have to help!”

“Sir, I’m dispatching patrol cars and an ambulance to your location now. Could you tell me what happened to your wife?”

“I stabbed her. God, I stabbed her!”

“Did you say you stabbed her, sir?”

“Yes! Fuck, she’s dying! Please, you have to...you have to send someone!”

“Marcus, I need you to remain calm and stay on the line with me, I have emergency vehicles heading your way now. Can you tell me where you stabbed her?”

BRIEF SILENCE

“Everywhere.”

CLICK!

“Yesterday morning at around three fifteen, this call was made to the police station down in Ardmore, Oklahoma. And at midnight, the naked bodies of Marcus Jackson and his wife Alice – a newly married couple from Toledo, Ohio – were found by two hikers on the side of an abandoned road in the woods just outside of town.”

Unit Chief Haringer pulled photos of the crime scene from her manila envelope and spread them out on the table before the team. “The first victim, Alice, had been stabbed thirty-seven times – allegedly by her husband Marcus, who attempted to decapitate his own head with the very same knife after ending the call you just heard.” She pointed to the photos on the left which portrayed the sprawled-out body of a young blonde woman. She was covered in dried blood and her limbs were bent at unnatural angles. Her mouth hung open in a silent scream, and two black holes gaped out of her head where her eyes should have been. “In addition to the knife wounds, twenty-two-year-old Alice Jackson was found with over fifty shallow lacerations to the head and body, the bones in her arms and legs had been broken, and both her eyes were missing.” Haringer moved her finger towards the photos on the right. “Twenty-five-year-old Marcus Jackson.” The photos showed his body propped against the metal rails of the road, the bloodied knife which was still clutched in his lifeless hands wedged tightly in the center of his severed neck. “Aside from his near decapitation, Marcus was found without a single scratch on his body.” Haringer placed another picture onto the table. “The killer also left a signature. Both victims had this symbol branded into their foreheads.”

Leaning forward Ruiz glanced at the symbol in the photo – two split halves of a broken heart suspended in flames.

“The Love Reaper.”

Haringer nodded, acknowledging the tall, dark man at the other end of the table who spoke. “You guessed it, Bates. Alice and Marcus Jackson were abducted January eighth at approximately three in the morning by the notorious serial killer who calls himself ‘The Love Reaper.’ The victims were held captive in chains as suggested by the extensive bruising around their wrists and ankles, while Marcus was forced to perform brutal acts of torture on his wife under the command of The Love Reaper.”

Jones, a woman with short brunette hair and piercing green eyes scoffed lightly. “Are we really giving him the satisfaction of the name?”

“The media already took it and ran with it,” Haringer shrugged. “That’s out of our hands.”

“But I thought the Reaper’s been dormant since ninety-seven?” Ruiz injected.

“Correct Ruiz,” she replied, “’96. So that means what, Espinosa?”

Mathias Espinosa was the newest addition to the team and therefore still had a lot to learn about the job.

Espinosa cleared his throat, folding his hands together on top of the table. “It means that either we’re dealing with a copycat, or the original Reaper has resurfaced and is killing once again.”

The conversation was suddenly interrupted by the shrill ringing of the team phone, and Haringer tossed the manila folder she held onto the table before picking up the receiver. Covering the mouthpiece, she told them, “Study the rest of the crime scene photos and we’ll discuss facts of the case.” Everyone on the team grabbed a few and began to analyze them, jotting down some notes as she took the call. “Unit Chief Haringer.”

As Haringer turned away and spoke into the phone, Ruiz grabbed the folder from the center of the table and began to study the previous case files of The Love Reaper from 1996 which remained unsolved. The objective he bore in mind was to study the similarities in M.O.* and the unique signature between the old cases and the new one to determine whether or not they really were dealing with the same killer as before, or if this was some sort of copycat.

But suddenly Haringer turned back around and stepped towards the table, stopping the team in their tracks. Her face bore the familiar look of grave news which they all knew.

“Another young couple’s been abducted.”

*M.O. - The MO is what the offender must do in order to commit the crime. For example, the killer must have a means to control his victims at the crime scene such as tying them up.