The Labeller

Chapter Six

Theo rubbed his brow in frustration as he closed his office door. The press were getting hungrier and he had no answers to their questions. He didn't have any suspects, he didn't have any leads, he didn't know if the killer was related to Camila in any way. All he knew was what Spencer Hastings just told him over the phone; not like it was good news. When Theo was assigned this case he thought that it was simple and like any other murder, that was until the details seemed familiar and he realised that it was a copycat of The Labeller. Now, he feels as though he'd been stumbling in the dark trying to find someone like Camila.

Theo was snapped out of his thoughts at the sound of the phone ringing. He took a deep breath before answering, expecting it to be his boss who would only scold him for taking so long to close the case. "Theo James speaking." He spoke into the phone but it was nothing but silence on the other end. Theo furrowed his brow in deep confusion. "Hello?" Once again, it was silent. "I can trace this call if this is a prank." Silence. "I'm a federal officer, I can have you arrested." Nothing. "I'm hanging up now and having this call traced." Heavy breathing was heard this time. "Thank you for setting the scene, you made my job easier." The unknown voice husked out in a threatening tone. "Oh really? If this is who I think it is, I'm coming for you." Theo returned the threat and the voice chuckled deeply. "You aren't coming for me, I believe you have Lauren Jauregui doing all the work. I'm very excited to meet her, after all she was the true prey." The line went dead. It took Theo a good minute to realise that the copycat had really just risked exposure just to taunt him. He clenched his jaw in pure rage at the arrogance of the killer and instantly called a tech team to attempt to triangulate the call to start least find out where they called from.

He knew that if he told Lauren that the killer had their eyes on her, she'd run for the hills and this case would never be solved. He also knew that if he told her what they'd said on the phone about being the true prey, Camila's life sentence would've been served a lot quicker.

Lauren stood outside the address that was handed to her by Spencer. After a lot of work from the tech team, they'd managed to find out who owned the car that the blonde guy had been getting into. His name was Jeremiah Valeska, he was a well respected actor who appeared in a bunch of plays around the city. His parents are both deceased and have been for many years, according to the file Lauren read before coming here Jeremiah had a twin brother Jerome. From briefly looking into the brother she learnt that Jerome worked at a circus.

"Just keep him talking. I'll be watching him very closely." Lauren looked to her left to see Camila looking at her protectively and even with everything that had happened between them, she still felt those damned butterflies. "I know how to do my job." Lauren mumbled and began walking toward the door only to be pulled back. "I'm not saying you don't. I'm just saying that if they are involved with the murders they'll be very focused on the pair of us." Lauren understood what Camila was trying to say; that they weren't safe even with Camila at her side. The detective stepped forward and knocked on the door, rather surprised when it opened instantly.

"Jeremiah Valeska?" Lauren asked the man with black hair, dark blue velvet suit and fake green eyes. "That'd be me, may I ask your business as I am in a bit of a rush." His tone was polite but held cold undertones that both the Cubans picked up on instantly. "I'm Lauren Jauregui, Detective with the FBI and this is my associate Camila Cabello. Can we take some tune out of your day to ask you some questions?" Camila watched his pupils dilate, she couldn't decide whether it was in fright or delight. "I suppose you can. Would you like some tea?" Jeremiah offered as they all stepped inside his home.

Camila took this opportunity to analyse the suspect. His posture was confident and firm, not a single flaw. The way he spoke without falling over his words showed that he wasn't nervous and from what she'd seen there wasn't a single drop of sweat which would indicate he was nervous. She decided she would wait until Lauren started to ask questions, because when someone truly is hiding something there is always a tick. Twirling their hair around their finger, sitting slouched fawning apathy. Beating around the bush before answering the question. There's always something.

Lauren has noticed that when Camila would lie, she would make sure there was eye contact. That was how she was fooled for so long, because Camila always seemed to be telling the truth with that damned eye contact that Lauren fell for.

"Personally I like my tea sweet, hope you don't mind." Jeremiah handed the women they're cups, Lauren instantly took a sip before putting it down. However Camila just held it, not taking a sip which she noticed Jeremiah frowned at. He was disappointed that Camila hadn't approved of it. "I'll just jump straight into it. Where were you on the night of when Adeline Price went missing?" All of the disappearances had been dramatically publicised because of its links to The Labeller, so Lauren didn't need to empathise the timing. Jeremiah seemed smart enough. "I had a play at the theatre down town. If my memory serves me correctly, I was the lead in Macbeth." Lauren wrote down the key information he'd given and Camila spent more time just staring at him, observing every move he made and every syllable he spoke. "And your brother? Where was he?" Camila had caught him, the slight tilt of his head that you'd only see if you were looking close enough. The actor wore a very faint smile as well, while it seemed he had a straight face you could see his cheekbones slightly more than you could when he first sat down. He was suppressing the urge to smile. "I don't keep tabs on Jerome. He comes and goes as he pleases."

"Oh I'm sorry I thought that since your brother was diagnosed with psychosis you'd be looking after him." Camila watched Jeremiah cross his legs. When he was getting defensive he would move his body. The Labeller could tell Lauren had him on his toes. "Yes well the maniac is more than capable of looking after himself. I don't need him dragging me down."

"You know you're a very convincing liar." Camila spoke up staring directly at Jeremiah with a pointed look. Lauren furrowed her brow in anger but when Jeremiah began laughing chaotically she stood and backed away from him. "Why thank you Camila. Years of practice. But of course you'd notice." Jeremiah bowed slightly with a cheeky grin, not caring about holding up a facade. "Now why don't you tell Lauren everything she needs to know." Camila ordered rather than asked which received a sinister smile.

"Yeah Camila, why don't we. Let's tell her how she was the golden ticket that every one like us dreams of having." Lauren turned to her ex lover as her blood ran cold. "What does he mean?" Silence. "Camila. What the fuck is he talking about." A heavy exhale before a look of shame.

"The reason I could never hurt you is because you were the perfect victim. You were everything I wanted to find. I couldn't tarnish that perfect image otherwise my inner beast wouldn't of found you as special. I'm sorry."

"Manipulative Killer. As The Labeller would say." Jeremiah taunted as Lauren's whole mind shut down and Camila looked down in disgust with herself. Lauren was so much more than that to her now, she just had to prove it.

You're welcome👋🏼

Oh and hiiiii I'm alive Labeller readers🤣