The Eustice Murders (Complete)

*Chapter 23*

"Good morning everyone, glad you could all join us." There was a serious tone to his voice as captain Beesley addressed the four detectives that had gathered in his office. "Now then, as you all know, there have been several occasions recently where the two cases that each of you are working on have crossed paths. It is my belief that the four of you are all in a position to help each other out and possibly even speed up both of your investigations."

Sarah Brookes closed her eyes and let out a gentle 'hmph'. It was a natural reaction and wasn't intended to be heard by the others but given the momentary silence; they all picked up on it causing the captain to pause briefly and glance at her before continuing.

"Yes, I am aware of the negative atmosphere and the animosity that has been happening around here recently. The main reason for this meeting this morning is to put an end to all of that and try and get everyone to realize that we are actually all on the same team. Now then, as I see it there is only one way I am going to be able to do this and that is to be truthful with you all and bring you all up to speed on the REAL reasons why certain people are here today." Sam and Hank chuckled silently to themselves at this comment while detective Brookes, who had previously been staring at the floor, raised her eyes, looking straight at the captain over the rim of her glasses. "Sarah, do you remember detective Kurt Bishop and his partner Carl Mitchell?"

"Of course," she replied lifting her head up. "I learned a lot from both of them."

"Ok, good," captain Beesley nodded. "Now, before they left us, they were both on the trail of a serial killer; something that had been kept very quiet. In fact, it was only the two of them and myself that were aware of this.

"We know it was a serial killer because each and every victim was killed in exactly the same way and left in exactly the same position. On top of this, the perpetrator had been leaving us a signature or calling card if you will." The captain paused, taking in a deep inhale through his nose while looking around the room. After a somewhat lengthy exhale he continued once more. "The very first victim had been found with a pool ball inserted into an incision that had been made just below the chest. The second victim met with the same fate, and these were in order to the number one ball for the first victim, the number two ball for the second, and so on. Now then, do you remember Tabitha Mitchell?" Detective Brookes looked up again, her eyes widening with happy thoughts.

"Carl's wife? Yes, of course, she was actually a very ....good.....friend," her speech began to slow towards the end of that sentence and the happy look began to dissipate into one of horror as she remembered why she was no longer in touch with her former friend; for she had died was what Sarah was told. Now, dread and fear washed over her as she began to ponder why she was being brought into this conversation at all.

"Sadly, this is not going to be easy to hear," captain Beesley warned her with a rather solemn look. "I'm afraid Tabitha Mitchell was the sixth and last victim of what we were then calling The Pool Ball killer. And I'm afraid we believe she had been chosen and targeted deliberately in order to taunt and antagonize us."

"Oh my God," she muttered, raising her hand to cover her mouth with her palm. Her eyes began to puff up as this information sank in.

"Unfortunately, the killer was never caught either," Captain Beesley continued. "Shortly after Tabitha Mitchell's murder, the trail went completely cold and a few months later the case was eventually dropped. This was ultimately the reason both Carl and Kurt felt they needed to break away from the force." A small teardrop slowly rolled out of Sarah Brookes' left eye and began to trickle down over her cheek. "So why am I telling you all of this now?" The captain asked. Detective Brookes wiped her eyes with a handkerchief and sat upright as captain Beesley answered his own question. "Well, the body that was discovered six weeks ago, prior to detectives Johnson and Harvey joining us, was killed with exactly the same m.o. Complete with the number seven pool ball in an identical position as the previous six. And remember, the only people who could have possibly known about this were Kurt, Carl, and myself."

"Wait, what are you saying?" Detective Brookes asked with a slight tone of anger raising up in her voice.

"I'm saying that whoever committed these crimes fifteen years ago is back! And is operating again!" Sarah Brookes looked on wide-eyed not believing what she was hearing. She took in several very short but deep breaths struggling to keep hold of her emotions. "And I hope you understand but your reactions were exactly the reasons why we decided to look beyond our own precinct. It was felt that you were too close and emotionally connected to take on the case." Detective Brookes closed her eyes and nodded her head, showing that she understood. "We considered handing it to detective Moorland but we figured the first thing he would do would be to seek your assistance," Captain Beesley continued, looking over in Dustin Moorland's direction prompting his response.

"Absolutely," he admitted. "There's no way I'd want to tackle something this big alone." The room fell silent as everyone processed this information.

"Seems we owe you guys an apology," Detective Brookes offered a few moments later, glancing at Hank and Sam.

"No, not all," Sam told her, shaking his head. "To be fair, if we were in your position knowing what you knew and then watching some strangers coming in to take on the case, I think we would have acted in the same way," Sam said as he looked over towards Hank waiting for his agreement.

"I don't know about reprogramming the GPS though," Hank told them with a slight frown. "I mean, I think I'd have been tempted to let your tires out as well" he added with a wry smile causing the whole room to burst into laughter.