I Am Tired Of Being A Hero Chapter 237: Malik’s thoughts

"You don’t want to fully co to the fact that this serial killer is operating on a cycle. Every week one kill, that ans, from the ti you found Emily Wilson, it ans that he is holding another victim captive and she is undergoing inhuman torture, right now." Malik did not waste a single mont to rip open the bandage even without touching Arlen.

A pained expression crossed Arlen’s face and Malik sighed.

"I think that it is interesting you feel so guilty when the killer is probably having wine and cheese without a single shred of guilt." He decided to be kinder, considering this person is his friend’s lover and his lover’s brother. "Feeling guilty that you have not caught the killer. Are you an oracle hiding your power, or perhaps, a god? Did you hand the knife to the killer in so sort of hide-or-seek ga?"

"Of course not. I don’t think that I am..." Arlen hurried to reply.

Ravi frowned and was about to step forward when Malik’s expression softened sowhat, "Then it is not your fault. Since you did not give the knife, then you must never feel like you did. Your pain right now is what this killer would enjoy the most and it would cause you to make mistakes in your haste. You are a detective, it is your job, not your life purpose, the only person answerable to the cri is the criminal."

The room was silent for a few minutes and Arlen sighed, "Thank you. You are right and I...know that." There was a sad smile on his face, of course, he knew that it was not his fault that a madman was patrolling the street, looking for people to kill but even though he did know that, he could not help the guilt that he felt." It is just that feeling that if I am a little smarter, or faster or stronger, then I might have saved them. You understand what I am saying."

He looked at both Malik and Ravi who paused for a second and in an identical motion, shook their heads.

Arlen looked up to the ceiling, a helpless expression on his face. Ravi chuckled and reached out to hold his hand, interlocking their fingers to comfort Arlen. He knew that the kind of Arlen would have a hard ti because of this case but there was little that he could do to help.

"I would not take any more ti. This killer is operating within his own cri cycle. The interval between the last cri and the next cri can be divided into a cooling period and a fantasy intensification period. After that, the killer will kill again."

Arlen nodded, "We speculate that he is holding his victims for a week, killing them on the seventh day. There is no cooling period. From the amount of victims we have, he kills every week."

Malik nodded, "That week is his cooling period. The torture is the appetizer before the big al. The big al is the murder in the public."

Ravi frowned, "But he is a sadist. When he killed them publicly, they did not suffer."

"But they did. They bleed to death. Can you imagine it? You were drugged and you wake up in a basent, an abandoned house, or a shed, you scream for help and nobody cos. Nobody can hear you, the only person who can is a madman who tortures you and starves you. You keep up screaming, praying that soone could hear you, soone can help you. Then one day, he takes you out. You are probably seeing sunlight for the first ti in a while, you can feel the pain in your stomach and you can feel the blood from where he slashed you but it pales in comparison to what you have suffered in a long ti. And people, people are here. They can help you, they can save you so you stretch your hand and you cry out for help but they all ignore you. They pass by as if it is none of their concern, like you are lower than an ant, their gazes fleeting above you like you are not even with the air. You know the most painful thing to a human is when their hope is completely crushed to pieces, if you can look into their eyes at this mont, you could see their soul dying. Such a sight, can a sadist avoid it? That is the ultimate pleasure to the killer." Malik’s voice was light as if he was describing how one made poached eggs.

This person is so dangerous. Arlen confird again in his mind as he felt a trail of goosebumps.

"The two of you should not stare at like that. From this, you can notice a few inconsistencies, can’t you?"

"He did not leave. Although eyewitness testimonies claid that, a car drove up, as you said how could he miss such a sight? Either he ca down from the car or he parked sowhere and ca back to the sidewalk. Yet nobody could recall him..." Arlen narrowed his eyes, he was extrely focused as he dissected Malik’s words, "That had been sothing we have been pondering about. The killer killed so many people in public, even though it was rush hour and everyone had where they were going, I don’t believe that human beings are so cold and callous that they would ignore soone in so much pain."

"Humans are that cold and callous; they can easily disregard soone’s pain and ignore soone’s suffering. They hear a child’s screaming and crying and they close their windows but you are right in a way, most humans no matter how cruel they are would show their most generous side in public. Even if they would ignore a case of violence when they are at ho, or in public, they would stand up for the victim. If they saw her and could not help her, it was most probably because they could not."

"They could not. Are you saying that we are dealing with a hypnotist? A mutant."

"Not a hypnotist." Ravi said, looking at Arlen, "Nobody in Davenport can hypnotize that many people so easily. Well, Nobody but you, Malik."