19

The air inside the conference room was dense with the smell of whiteboard markers and old coffee. Detective Brenner stood near the board, flipping open a thick case file. He looked like he hadn't slept.

"You six were picked because Ellis says you're sharp — eager to learn," he said. "So we're giving you something real. Not sanitized. A cold case that's heating up again."

The students exchanged quick glances. Luis leaned forward, suddenly more interested. Grace looked nervous already. MJ said nothing — just stood near the back, watching every movement in the room.

Dr. Ellis folded his arms. "This case is complicated, and they know it. Give them the facts, Brenner."

Brenner nodded. "Alright. Two years ago, over the span of three months, three women were found dead in a suburb just outside Philly. All lived alone. All under 30. All found fully clothed, no signs of sexual assault, but each with blunt-force trauma to the back of the head and placed back into their beds — tucked in."

A beat of silence passed over the room.

Luis blinked. "That's... deliberate."

"Exactly," Brenner replied. "There was no forced entry. Victims had no direct connection. No financial motives. The media ran with it for a week, then it dropped off when the third case went cold."

Mina crossed her arms. "So why now?"

"Because last week," he said, pulling out a file and slapping it down, "it happened again."

Everyone leaned in slightly.

"This time it was a 26-year-old law student. Same MO. Blunt trauma. No signs of sexual violence. Placed gently in her bed. Doors locked. No forced entry. No signs of struggle."

Elliot, silent until now, asked, "No blood elsewhere in the apartment?"

"None," Brenner said. "Coroner confirmed the blow didn't kill her immediately. She likely bled internally. Quiet. Slow. He knew what he was doing."

MJ's eyes sharpened. "So he's methodical. Controlled. Organized."

Everyone turned toward her.

Dr. Ellis smiled faintly. "MJ, what are you thinking?"

She stared at the board. The red Xs over four women's faces. The photo of the most recent victim's room.

"No panic. No mess. No signatures, either. He's not showing off. He's staying hidden. These aren't thrill kills — they're rituals."

"Explain," Mina said, skeptical.

"He's creating a picture," MJ murmured. "Not of the victims — of himself. He tucks them in. Cleans up. That's not guilt. That's ownership. He's not killing them violently. He's... removing them. Quietly. Carefully."

Xavier leaned back. "So he's not a rage killer. But it's not random."

MJ shook her head. "No. It's personal to him. Even if he doesn't know them."

Grace asked, "What kind of person does that?"

MJ didn't answer right away. Then softly:

"Someone who wants control over how you leave this world."

The room went still again.

Brenner cleared his throat and handed out the files. "You'll each work through statements, timelines, and past evidence. Work as a team. Identify the connections we might've missed. We've got one survivor from a suspected attempted case two years ago. She's willing to talk. You'll review the transcript first."

Luis gave a low whistle. "This just got real."

MJ opened the folder and began flipping through the first file. Her jaw was set.

She wasn't there to play detective.

She was there to see the truth first.

_

The precinct buzzed around them — officers on phones, footsteps tapping across the tile, the hum of quiet conversations. MJ's group was gathered around the long table, shuffling papers, talking timelines, and throwing out ideas.

MJ stayed with them for a while, listening quietly. But soon, she slipped away, gathering her own stack of files and moving to a smaller table in the corner. She needed space to think clearly, away from the noise and back-and-forth guesses.

Dr. Ellis noticed the shift and approached her after some time.

"MJ, can we talk?" he asked softly.

She nodded and followed him to a quiet hallway just off the bullpen.

Ellis folded his arms. "You pulled away from the group pretty quickly."

MJ looked at him calmly. "I thought it would help me focus."

He gave a small smile but didn't argue. "It's not a solo project, though. This is a team effort."

MJ's voice was steady. "I don't mean to shut anyone out. It's just... sometimes it feels like people slow down the process."

Ellis studied her for a moment. "So you don't trust others to keep up?"

She hesitated, then nodded quietly. "Not when the work needs to be precise."

Ellis sighed. "You're good. You pick up on things others miss. But sooner or later you'll miss something too and that's when you need your team."

She looked down at the files in her hands. "I'm trying. I want to get it right."

Ellis's tone softened. "You're smart — the kind of smart that can be intimidating."

MJ glanced up, expression unreadable.

"You're scary," he said with a chuckle. "In a good way. If you can balance that with working alongside others, you'll go places."

MJ gave a small, almost imperceptible smile. "Thank you."

Ellis nodded. "Alright, go on. Show them what you've got."

She turned and walked back — quieter than before, but with something steadier in her step.

_

Back at the precinct, the team gathered around the scattered files once again. This time, MJ stayed closer, but her expression remained calm, almost detached.

The others noticed how little the case's darker details affected her. Photos of the victims, crime scene images, and the brutal facts—they unsettled most of them. But MJ moved through it all with an eerie steadiness, unfazed.

When Luis stumbled over some graphic evidence, visibly shaken, MJ quietly picked up the file and continued without hesitation.

"She's got nerves of steel," Grace whispered to Mina.

MJ didn't smile or respond. She simply studied the files, piecing together timelines and subtle clues the others hadn't noticed.

One time, as the group debated a suspect's possible motive, MJ finally spoke.

"It's not just about the who or the why," she said softly, her voice cold and measured. "It's about the how. The pattern in how he chooses his victims and how he covers his tracks."

The room fell quiet, everyone turning to her.

She pointed at a map with pins and strings.

"He targets isolation — not just physical, but emotional. The victims had no close ties, which means fewer witnesses and less urgency from others. The killer knows this and uses it."

Xavier nodded slowly. "So the common thread isn't just geography or timing—it's vulnerability."

"Exactly," MJ said. "And the lack of noise around their disappearances."

Over the next several hours, MJ quietly took the lead, assigning parts of the investigation to the others, directing their focus on overlooked evidence, and steadily guiding the group through behavioral analysis.

Her stoic demeanor and sharp insight kept the team focused, even when exhaustion and frustration crept in.

Finally, their combined work led to a break: a small, overlooked detail in surveillance footage, combined with victim lifestyle patterns, pointed the detectives toward a suspect who had slipped through earlier investigations.

Detective Brenner called MJ aside after the suspect's arrest.

"You did good work," he said, surprised by her calm intensity. "Your observations helped us piece together what we'd missed."

MJ simply nodded, her eyes steady.

"Don't lose that edge," Brenner added. "It's what caught him."

As the team wrapped up their part in the case, MJ stayed quiet but alert, already thinking ahead — not to the praise or relief, but to the next challenge.

Because for her, the darkness wasn't something to fear.

It was something to understand.

Author's note:

First of all, I literally have short term memory loss when writing so if I repeat something ... just ignore it. And second, please do not fact check me on this crap, I just write whatever sounds smart. 😭