Int. Outside Police Interrogation Room (Night) November 4th, 2025
Gabriel ignored the muffled screaming coming from the room. His head tilted to the ceiling, his eyes closed. Gabriel took a couple deep breaths, doing his best to center himself, allowing the anger to dissipate. The light washed over Gabriel, and he felt a small surge of energy, though it was outweighed by the tiredness. This case has pushed him to the limits, both physically and mentally. Gabriel emptied his thoughts, allowing his mind to rest as he stood there. After a few minutes, he opened his eyes, feeling a little bit better. He slowly made his way toward the chair he was sitting in earlier before Blake decided to ignore protocols, as per usual.
Gabriel sat down in the chair and noticed his coffee cup on the table was now cold, which irritated him more than he'd like to admit. He rested both elbows on the desk, using his hands to prop his head up. He noticed a lack of laughter or anything demeaning aimed at himself. Gabriel looked around the room, noticing that Blake was nowhere to be seen, probably taking a smoke break. Finally feeling himself calm down from dealing with Stolas. Gabriel couldn't help but reflect back on the last thirty minutes or so, upset with himself over not controlling his reactions to Stolas's goading.
It was as if Stolas was stuck in a delusion that killing people would bring about some new world order. Granted, this case so far has been in a way one of the worse things Gabriel has experienced. It's why the captain wanted to be here for the interrogation. There's much more riding on this case besides just a simple murder suspect, though Gabriel and Blake were forced to keep quiet about the details. Hopefully there will be some return to normality in the future; maybe Gabriel can use some vacation time to go relax on a nice beach somewhere.
The only bright side in all of this is at least they got a partial confession from Stolas, and even if the case gets thrown out, they have Stolas put away for killing multiple police officers. Gabriel still had his head propped on his hands, his thoughts turning to the last twenty-four hours. From finally finding Stolas to all the officers that they have lost due to the very same monster playing god. In his heart, those men and women that stood by his side didn't deserve to die all to bring in one murder suspect. Sadly, if it wasn't for those who lost their lives, this monster would still be hunting down more victims in the streets.
It was a sad reality of being on the police force. You pray to go home to your family every day. Some people don't get to make it home, don't make it to say goodbye to their family. Walking out that door every time for a shift could always be your last shift, the last goodbye towards your family. Gabriel let out a tired sigh as he was personally going to each door, explaining how each died on his watch, how he was the one to be blamed for failing. Even if the families are mad at him, he wanted to explain how they bravely tried to help save the city.
The screaming in the room finally stopped. It didn't stop Gabriel from feeling tired; the little burst of energy he had disappeared. His body felt as if he was defeated even though the suspect was in cuffs—essentially, they won. The police had got another bad guy off the streets. Gabriel's weariness had been going on for the two weeks, right around the time he got this case. Gabriel hasn't been able to sleep well, the pressure from the captain to solve the case as quickly as possible making him exhausted.
When Gabriel was first assigned the case, you'd think he'd feel sick by the murders, yet going to the crime scene photos intrigued him. The way each body was arranged, it was as if Stolas hated Christianity and was denouncing the religion. As Gabriel noticed days ago, the bodies were hung upside down, a reverse image of the cross the churches use. That is what made Gabriel interested, more than interested; he felt the need to have to solve the case.
Int. Police Station (Afternoon) 2 weeks Ago October 21, 2025
The sound of talking could be heard all around Gabriel as he bit his lip, his eyes slightly strained from staring at the files. A couple of days ago, he was assigned a case from the captain of his division. Usually, it's the lieutenant who assigns them, but Gabriel was personally asked to handle this one by Captain Drake, having one of the best track records at solving cases for a person his age. With a hint of pride in his steps, Gabriel graciously accepted the case. Now looking back at it, it was as if no one else wanted to take it, so it was fostered on to him.
If Gabriel knew how difficult just finding a lead would've been, he would've turned it down, found an excuse to not deal with this. It wasn't till after reading the case when he found how difficult it really was. Leaning back into the chair, Gabriel stared at the ceiling contemplating his next step. One of the major issues is that bodies appear out of nowhere, and witnesses report they saw no one placing the bodies. With places being so public, they've all been cleaned so there would be nothing left to find now for Gabriel. The worst part was the bodies reportedly had the blood drained, and near the bodies were messages left in the blood of the victims. Gabriel has been wracking his brain on where to start, knowing that Captain Drake wants to keep this out of the press, nor does he want the FBI to get involved. It's actually a godsend they've been able to keep most of this under cover from the news. Gabriel could only imagine the circus that would cause, specially with spreading fear amongst the people.
He sighed to himself. He really did have a choice if he wanted to move forward. While Gabriel didn't want to, he was forced to ask for some help, and Gabriel did everything he could to not work with anyone on cases. Especially him; the way he acted on cases always left a nasty feeling in his stomach. Finally making up his mind, Gabriel abruptly stood up from his desk, a frown on his face as he picked up the two completed files on his desk, the rest being just an assortment of random papers. He quickly began walking, his footsteps heavy as he was racking his head trying to make sense of the case he was recently assigned. He could see Blake's messy desk just up ahead. No matter how much he doesn't want to have to ask for his help, Blake might help with some issues he was having on the case. Since Gabriel wasn't making any headway on his own yet, it was a good chance to get a fresh perspective on things.
Gabriel finally approaching his desk quickly got straight to the point. "I've got assigned to a high-profile case, and I need your um expertise on where I should start."
"Ahh, finally coming back for help, eh, youngin'," Blake mocked, his feet up on his desk, eating a donut. "Finally got a big shot case, and now you want to remember your old teacher, huh." Not once turning around to face Gabriel, almost punishing him in a way for not wanting to be around him.
Gabriel scowled as he threw the folder at Blake. "Come on, be serious. I haven't been able to find anything that connects the suspects together."
"Why don't you go ask John for help then if you're so desperate for help," Blake mocked, tossing a paper ball up in the air, then catching it as the ball fell repeatedly.
Gabriel scowled, reaching out with his left hand, grabbing the paper ball out of the air before throwing it in the small trash bin next to the desk. "Seriously, man, for once can you stop goofing off. People are dying here, so I'd like to do my best to catch the guy before another body turns up."
Blake sat up in his chair, letting out a sigh but decided to give in. "Fine, just this once, I'll help you. just know you'll owe me one," he whined, grabbing the folder off of his chest, putting both feet on the ground.
Gabriel walked around the desk and pulled up a chair. "I looked up backgrounds, interviewed neighbors, family members and the works. All came back clean. Most were considered pillars of their respective communities."
Blake didn't comment, deciding to focus on going through the files. As he went over the pages, Gabriel noticed he stopped on a particular name. Blake took a closer look at the paper, taking it out of the folder as he studied all the details. "This guy here says his name is Jacob Ryder, age 38," he spoke out loud. "I dealt with him before he went missing. If I recall, I was called in to investigate a domestic violence case."
"Wait, so you dealt with this?" Gabriel questioned, leaning forward in his chair, his leg pumping down in excitement at finally getting a break in the case.
Instead of answering, Blake moved Gabriel's knee out of the way. Leaning down, he opened up the bottom drawer on his desk. Inside was a pile of folders. To Gabriel's shock, the drawer was neat, with the folders categorized in alphabetic order. Blake's desk is usually a mess with food wrappers and empty cigarette containers. Given his appearance, you'd think Blake wouldn't keep anything organized. Suffice to say, he takes being an officer seriously. He quickly found Jacob's folder, placing it on the table.
"Let's see if this victim is the same as the person in the case," Blake explained, showing Gabriel the file. "Ahh, here it is. His ex-wife filed for domestic violence, but later dropped the charges. There wasn't much to follow up on. After the divorce, she moved away and didn't have any trouble until his body turned up dead."
"Wait, what?!" Gabriel gasped as he quickly picked up the folder. "When I asked around, no one mentioned he was married."
Blake shrugged. "Yeah, don't know why it didn't pop up in the search, but since the charges were never filed, the domestic violence wouldn't show as him getting arrested or charged for it."
Gabriel looked hard at the folder, his mind racing at finally finding a connection. If he is acting as a vigilante, then he might be going after people that have committed crimes and got away with it. "I'll have to start double-checking reports submitted in the last couple months, cross-referencing names to the people who died," Gabriel explained, mapping out things he needed to start doing in his mind so he can get to work.
"That'll be the best, Gabe, if I were you," Blake agreed. "Now get the fuck away from my desk, I'm busy."
Gabriel looked around Blake's desk, seeing nothing important. "Yeah, I bet you have a lot of work to do," he muttered.
Gabriel ducked under a can thrown at his head. He quickly wrote down a list of names to check with other officers, asking to see if any of the victims also had similar reports on them.
Gabriel also had a couple of C.I.'s that he could shake down for information. Even if he had to, he could arrange for the perp to go after one of them. If they can get enough information on the guy, more sleepless nights were ahead for him as he quickly went to another officer's desk, trying to ask any of his peers if they had any interaction with any of the persons killed in the case.