Justin Cairns - Little Red

The booming of an acoustic guitar vibrated through the briefing room and William Lime grabbed for the remote, quickly reducing the volume. The speakers crackled until the volume was low enough. Nathan felt his heart beating violently from inside his chest and he imagined everyone else felt the same way. The howl followed closely behind the acoustic intro. The song was being played on a stereo out of view from the lens.

The Wolf had entered from behind the girl, his chosen song for a dramatic entrance. She jumped as he reached a gloved hand over her face and cut the gag free from her mouth. Her screams were just heard over the music and the Wolf began circling her bound body. He had stopped after the third lap, his body blocking the view of the girl. He stood motionless.

The gloved hand collided with her face and a stream of blood ejected to the right of the killers body. Dark red dots scattered to the walls and floor. The movie was paused as the girl’s painful screams over-powered the lyrics of the song.

William Lime moved with speed toward the light switch as if the beast from the film they had just watched was lurking in the dark corners of the briefing room. Eyes were startled by the sudden illumination.

‘Right, I don’t think we need to see anymore’ he stated, clearing his throat beforehand. He waddled back to the front of the class, pushing his glasses from the tip of his nose.

‘I think it’s clear to say that this killer is a psychopath’ he stated.

‘Say again’ Nathan pushed himself off the wall with his shoulders.

‘Sorry?’ Lime stuttered, confused by the sudden question.

‘I said say that again’.

‘I think it’s clear, by what we just watched, that this monster is a psychopath’ the sentence containing slight hesitation between words.

Nathan moved toward the canvas that displayed the frozen image of the Wolf at work.

‘Why is this person a Psychopath Doc?’ his finger resting upon the killers back

Lime shuffled his feet, the uneasy feeling of conflict between himself and Nathan on show to the curious eyes of the class.

‘Look at the footage Mr Cawley. Did you not see what we all witnessed?’

‘I did, and I didn’t see a Psychopath Doc’

‘Oh I’m sorry, I didn’t realise you were also a Criminal Psychologist!’ the words once again slurred into Nathan’s face.

‘Oh, don’t apologise Doc. I didn’t realise that you had also managed to catch three of the most violent serial killer’s in the UK when no one else was able to!’ Nathan was now toe to toe with Lime.

‘Don’t try to insult or undermine me Doc, I’ve been doing this a lot longer than you and I’m a hell of a lot better at it too. What I didn’t see in that footage was a Psychopath………what I saw was a very dedicated killer with an exceptional attention to detail who also plans to kill again and again…..you know why I know this?’ the question aimed toward the class.

The blank faces told Nathan he needed to give an example, a small kick up the backside or shove in the right direction. He collected the small remote control and began rewinding the footage. The class watched as the killer performed his ritual backwards with speed. Nathan played the movie as the first photograph was taken by the Wolf, he then paused the screen.

‘Ok, what can we see……look hard’

Silence answered him.

‘Right, what I want from you guys are answers, they may be wrong but I don’t give a shit…….I would like you to tell me what you see!’

‘He’s organised’ the answer coming from Jack’s mouth.

‘Yes’ Nathan’s finger aimed towards Jack, his face still starring into the rows of confused faces.

‘Look at the picture. He has an organised work space. We can see shelving with objects placed upon it in a tidy manner. We can see a small trolley type object with items placed upon it neatly. The room is tidy with no obstructions to slow his movement……………..the killer is organised and tidy………he has planned this murder for some time, making sure everything is correct and orderly.’

‘The walls are painted’ the words fired out from the crowd

‘Yes……….look at the walls, what can we see on the walls?’

‘Tree’s’ another voice from the team

‘Exactly……a scenery, we see a wood with multi-coloured leaves, grassy hills and a clear blue sky…….anyone care to add a suggestion why?’

‘To put the girl at ease, relax her?’

‘Was that an answer or are you asking me?’ Nathan quizzed

Silence again.

‘You’re right………this killer has painted the walls to relax his victim, for them to look around and take in their surroundings. Maybe it is to help trigger a fond memory they have of playing outside or in a wood with friends or family…….it is to relax them so that when he appears wearing what he is in the footage, it scares the shit out of them!’

Jack smiled. He knew Nathan was onto something, he could tell as he had seen it before, many times.

‘The same tactic has been used by terrorist cells within the Middle East and Afghanistan. I’m sure you will have seen the footage of a beheading. The terrorists perform the same ritual over and over, to confuse the victim in captivity, to get them used to their surroundings. They do it many times, possibly twice a day, until the unlucky sod believes that the next is going to be exactly the same as before….sometimes it is…..until the day they remove the head. That day is when the ritual changes, they progress further with words, a speech that is rehearsed with the victim present so that he begins to get used to it. Once they realise that the rehearsal is different they begin to panic, scream and attempt to break free, that is fear overwhelming them, then, the head is removed!’ the faces before him, more stunned than before.

‘So to paint that scenery on the walls by hand may have taken several weeks, so once again we come back to the killer being organised’.

‘Sir, is it possible that he kept the girl there for a long time?’

‘Explain’.

‘Well, to go through all the effort to paint the walls, I can’t see them doing that just to kill the girl the moment they got her in there!’

‘Good……. starting to think now……this is what I’m looking for! To elaborate on what you just said, yes it is more than likely that he kept the victim in that room for several days before he made this footage……which now leads us to where this room could be located’.

He looked to the team for answers.

‘It could be a garage or storage place of some sort’ the answer coming from the front.

‘Farm building?’ from the back

‘Could be a cellar!’

‘All are possible locations, yes. Looking at the size of the room and brickwork I would be more inclined to say a cellar of some sort. It would have to be sound proofed or deep enough to quieten the screams’.

Nathan grabbed the glass and drank the remaining water.

‘To summarise on what we have is a killer who has planned the execution of the abduction and kill to a very high standard. They are well prepared and organised. They use a room which is under ground or hidden from any persons living close by. This tells me that the first victim is not the last, not by far. They have taken a long time in preparing this and one kill won’t fill their hunger’.

‘I would also suggest that this killer is male and that, depending on the results of the autopsy, the attack is driven by a sexual need. Opposites attract and in the case of a serial killer this normally happens, the male gender prey on the opposite and younger as it is easier for them to overpower and manipulate their prey’ he paused and scanned the room,’ This is good, this is what we call rooting the investigation, so now we have our roots…….lets grow and catch this bastard’.