I Can Hear a Serial Killer's Voice in My Head

I return to my desk, the adrenaline from the intense interrogation slowly ebbing away. The bullpen is a hive of activity, with officers bustling about, phones ringing, and the constant hum of conversation filling the air. For the next few hours, I immerse myself in mundane tasks - filing reports, organizing notes, and reviewing case details.

It's a welcome distraction from the intensity of the morning's events.

As I work, my mind keeps drifting back to Jin's face during the interrogation - the flicker of pride, the moment of panic when he thought we'd cracked his codes. I jot down some observations, determined to use every scrap of information to our advantage.

The afternoon wears on, the sunlight slanting through the windows changing as the hours pass. I'm deep in concentration, cross-referencing some dates from Jin's phone with our timeline of events, when I hear purposeful footsteps approaching. Looking up, I see Senior Inspector Cho making his way towards me, his expression a complex mix of confusion, grudging respect, and what might be curiosity.

"Detective," he begins, his tone carefully neutral as he comes to a stop by my desk. He glances at the organized chaos of papers and notes spread out before me before meeting my eyes. "Jin has been... agitated since your interrogation. The officers monitoring him report that he's been pacing his cell, muttering to himself."

Cho pauses, his gaze intensifying. "He keeps talking about codes in his notes, saying it doesn't make sense how you could have cracked them so quickly. He's demanding to know how we did it."

I lean back in my chair, maintaining a calm demeanor despite the surge of satisfaction I feel at hearing how rattled Jin is. "Is that so?" I ask, keeping my voice level.

Cho nods, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Indeed. Which brings me to my question: How did you manage to decipher those codes so quickly? Our cryptography team has been working on them for hours without success."

I take a deep breath, knowing that my next words could either cement the fragile trust we've built or shatter it completely. "Actually, Senior Inspector," I begin, my voice steady, "I haven't cracked the codes in his notes."

For a moment, Cho just stares at me, his face a mask of disbelief. "You haven't?" he repeats, his voice rising slightly. "But during the interrogation, you said..."

"I was bluffing," I admit, holding his gaze. "I wanted to see how he'd react to the possibility that we'd decoded his system. His response could tell us a lot about what those codes might contain."

For a long moment, the only sound is the background noise of the bullpen. Cho's face cycles through a range of emotions - surprise, anger, and then, unexpectedly, a grudging admiration. Finally, a small smile tugs at the corner of his mouth.

"You were bluffing," he says slowly, shaking his head. "And it worked."

I nod, standing up from my desk and gathering a few notes. "Sometimes, the threat of exposure can be as effective as actual evidence. Jin's reaction told us more than he intended. He confirmed the importance of those codes without saying a word."

Cho considers this for a moment, his fingers drumming thoughtfully on the edge of my desk. Then he nods decisively. "Well, your bluff has certainly rattled him. I want you back in the interrogation room. Let's see if we can push him further, maybe get him to reveal something about what those codes actually mean."

As I organize my notes, preparing to head back to the interrogation room, I can feel Cho's assessing gaze on me. There's a newfound respect in his eyes, albeit reluctantly given.

"Detective," he says as I'm about to leave, his voice gruff but not unkind, "that was... unconventional. But effective. It's not how we usually do things here in Gwangju, but I can't argue with results. Good work."

I nod in acknowledgment, a small thrill of satisfaction running through me. It's not often that Cho gives out praise, especially to outsiders like us. "Thank you, Senior Inspector. I'll do my best to keep that momentum going."

As I make my way back to the interrogation room, the corridor seems longer than before, each step bringing me closer to another confrontation with Jin. He's off-balance now, worried about what we might know. It's time to press that advantage, to see what other secrets we can uncover.

I pause outside the interrogation room door, taking a deep breath to center myself.

I step into the interrogation room, the air thick with tension. Jin's head snaps up as I enter, his eyes wild with a mix of fear and curiosity. I settle into the chair across from him, my movements deliberate and unhurried.

"Mr. Jin," I begin, my voice calm but authoritative, "I think it's time we had an honest conversation about those codes in your diary."

Jin's fingers twitch nervously on the table. "I don't know what you're talking about," he mutters, but his voice lacks conviction.

I lean forward slightly, maintaining eye contact. "Come now, Mr. Jin. We both know that's not true. The cipher you used was intricate, I'll give you that. But not unbreakable."

Jin's eyes widen almost imperceptibly. "You... you couldn't have..."

"Oh, but we did," I interrupt smoothly, bluffing with confidence. "It took some time, but we've deciphered most of it. Quite an elaborate system you devised to document your... activities."

Jin's composure slips further. "That's impossible. The algorithm was--"

"Based on a modified Vigenère cipher with a polyalphabetic twist?" I interject, throwing out cryptography terms I remember from training. "Clever, but not infallible."

Jin's face pales. He hadn't expected this level of specificity in my bluff.

I press on, "What I'm curious about, Mr. Jin, is why you felt the need to document everything in such detail. The locations, the dates, the... methods. It's all there in black and white."

"You're lying," Jin whispers, but doubt clouds his eyes.

I shake my head slowly. "Am I? Should I start reciting the contents? Perhaps the entry about Lee Soo-yeon? Or maybe you'd prefer I discuss what you did to Park Ji-eun?"

At the mention of these names, Jin flinches visibly. His carefully constructed facade begins to crumble.

"You don't understand," he blurts out, his voice trembling. "It wasn't... I didn't mean for it to go so far. The first time was an accident, but then..."

"Then what, Mr. Jin?" I prod gently, sensing we're on the verge of a breakthrough.

Jin's eyes dart around the room, as if searching for an escape. Finding none, he slumps in his chair. "Then I couldn't stop," he whispers. "It was like a puzzle that needed solving, each time more complex than the last. I had to see how far I could go, how much I could... perfect the process."

"And the codes? Why document everything?"

Jin looks up, a glimmer of his earlier pride returning. "To prove I was smarter than everyone else. That I could do these things and no one would ever know. Unless..."

"Unless someone cracked the code," I finish for him.

He nods slowly, defeat written across his features. "How many? How many did you decipher?"

I hold his gaze steadily. "All of them, Mr. Jin. We know everything."

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It's a lie, of course, but in that moment, Jin believes it completely. And in believing, he breaks.

"I'll tell you," he says, his voice barely above a whisper. "I'll tell you everything. About the women, about... about the others you haven't found yet."

My heart races at this revelation, but I keep my expression neutral. "I think that would be wise, Mr. Jin. Why don't you start from the beginning?"

As Jin begins to speak, confessing to his crimes in halting, sometimes graphic detail, I signal subtly to the mirror behind me. I know the rest of the team is watching, recording every word.

As I step out of the interrogation room, I'm immediately greeted by Han and Cho. Their faces are a mixture of relief and admiration.

"Exceptional work in there," Cho says, extending his hand. "Your unconventional methods have yielded results we couldn't have hoped for."

I shake his hand, feeling a sense of accomplishment wash over me. Han claps me on the shoulder, a proud smile on his face.

"This could be a turning point for us," Han says quietly. "The Gwangju team might start seeing us as valuable allies rather than outsiders."

I nod, glancing around the room. That's when I spot Yong, standing a little ways off. His eyes are wide with admiration, and he gives me a thumbs up when our gazes meet.

As the group begins to discuss next steps, a familiar voice suddenly emerges in my mind.

"Well, well, well," Bundy's smooth tone echoes. "That was quite the performance. I must say, I'm impressed. Your bluffing skills have certainly improved. What happened while I was gone?"

I freeze for a moment, caught off guard by Bundy's sudden reappearance. Instead of answering his question, curiosity gets the better of me.

"Bundy," I think, careful to keep my external expression neutral. "Do you remember what happened between the last time you were in my head and now?"

There's a pause, and when Bundy speaks again, there's a note of confusion in his voice. "That's odd. I... I'm not sure. My memories are rather vague. I have a sense that I was...

somewhere else. In someone else's head, perhaps? But I can't be certain."

A chill runs down my spine. This confirms what I've suspected - there's someone else out there who can hear the voices of serial killers, just like I can. The implications of this are staggering.

"That's... interesting," I think back to Bundy, trying to keep my mental voice steady.

"Indeed it is," Bundy replies, his tone thoughtful. "But enough about me. I want to hear about your clever manipulation of this Jin character. It seems you've learned a thing or two about the art of deception."

As Bundy's voice fades, I tune back into the conversation around me. Han is discussing the need for a full confession from Jin, while Cho is already planning the next phases of the investigation.

But my mind is busy with this new information. Someone else out there is experiencing the same phenomenon as me. Are they a force for good, like I try to be? Or have they been corrupted by the dark whispers in their mind?