Psychosocial - Chapter 9
Hey! First and foremost, I'm sorry for the huge gap in between the chapters. This time, I moved, got a new car, was left in charge of a shop and made some ground breaking discoveries about a friend, who well, has become a even closer friend ;)
This is dedicated to blindlyluv, who supported all of my writing, often double commenting. She'll be severely missed.
Author: improvfan88
Story: Psychosocial
Pairing: Ry/Col
Rating: NC-17 of sexual thingys and gruesome thingys.
Summary: A serial killer is trying to create the perfect masterpiece. When Detective Stiles and Doctor Mochrie team up for the first time, a new romance ensues. But when Doctor Mochrie is threatened by the killer, the race is on to stop the killer before he creates his masterpiece.
Chapter 9
The next morning, Colin and I were exhausted, and suffering from a severe lack of sleep. However, it had been well worth it. I couldn’t remember sex ever being this fantastic for me. I managed to grab a quick nap in the car on the way to the crime scene where Brady had died. Colin drove us. I woke up when we were five minutes away, and noticed Colin smiling to himself.
“What?” I asked him.
“What what?” He asked back.
“You’re smiling to yourself. That’s kinda weird.”
“Oh,” Colin said, very slowly, “I had just noticed something about the hotel room.”
“What?”
“Who booked it?”
“Dicker did.”
“Did you notice that he only booked one room, with a double bed?” I sat and tried desperately to remember everything. He was right. One room, a double bed, both our names - well, fake names - under the room number. “I don’t think he minds our relationship Ry.”
I laughed aloud. “I don’t know whether I should yell at him for the cheek, or shake his hand for being so accepting.”
Colin laughed too. “Yeah, I wonder why he done it though, especially after he called all the victims ‘fags’.”
“I don’t know. Maybe I got through to him about it, you know, that he has to work with one.”
“Maybe, but let’s face it. You don’t look gay Ryan.”
“Neither do you.”
“Please, I can mince my way anywhere.”
That shot me straight in a fit of giggles, which I was still trying to control even as Colin pulled up to the block of flats where Brady lived.
“Ryan, you’ve got to control yourself now.”
“I-I-I can’t!” I said, furiously sniggering. I saw Colin look around before he leaned over and captured my mouth in a harsh kiss, and placed his hand not so subtly over my crotch. He had done the same thing last night, and it worked this time too. My giggles stopped, and instead, I was pulling Colin closer to me. He pulled back.
“Good. Now we can get to work.”
I groaned. Trust Colin get me all riled up to then leave me hanging. “Can’t we go in later? Like, you know, just ten, fifteen minutes?”
“No, we can’t!” Colin laughed.
I put my best sulky face on to try and persuade him, but he was having none of it. “Later?”
“Later for sure,” Colin agreed, “But right now, we’ve got to do this shit.”
I felt a huge weight in my stomach, and I was certain that Colin would have the same feeling. I needed to solve this case now, it was plaguing every day and every moment that Colin and I spent together. I was completely certain that the killer was Proops, but we needed something square to place him at one of the murder scenes. And that was exactly what we were looking for now.
Brady had owned a house similar to mine, if a bit bigger. The house was spotlessly clean, filled with photos of what we assumed to be his family, and CD’s. In one room, there was a makeshift recording studio. We learned that Brady aspired to be a musician, and regularly sang in the club where he was last seen. The SFPD had already been to the club and made up a rough time scale of Brady’s last movements. He had arrived at the club at eight pm, done a two hour set beginning at nine, and left the club at one am after having a few drinks with friends. According to the barmen, he left alone. But after checking the CCTV camera outside the club, Brady stood outside talking with another man before getting into a car. I asked for the footage to be analysed further in the hope that we would be able to get a number plate from the car. I was hoping that if we got the number plate, we could match it to a car in the garage back home, from the address that we got from the taxi firm.
After talking to one of the officers, we got a medical analysis of Brady’s death. There were some differences to the previous deaths, but unfortunately it didn’t indicate different killer. Instead, it indicated that the killer was moving on. Brady was raped, but only after he had died. There was no pre-mortem penetration shown, and the skin was removed “expertly” for want of a better word in two halves. The killer had managed to improve removing the skin quickly and the next time, I didn’t doubt at all that he would manage to do it in one.
“I don’t understand something though.” Colin half-muttered.
“Hmm?”
“Why does he remove the skin? We’ve never actually thought about why he has done it, but there must be a reason. Everything this killer does it for a reason.”
“Maybe he’s become interested in taking trophies, reminders of his ‘art’. But that would be a new development, he wasn’t before.”
“I think that there’s more to it than simply trophies Ry. He wants to expose them, he wants to show exactly the kind of people that they are. You can’t get more exposed than no skin.”
I hummed my agreement. Colin’s assessment was almost exactly correct, I could see know that he was in the killer’s frame of mind and able to work out why the killer did the things he did. It was both good and bad; good for the case, but bad for Colin.
“You finished here gents?” An officer asked us.
“Yeah.” I said.
“No,” Colin said. I spun round to look at him and was slightly shocked to see him frowning. “Could you look for someone on your system back at the station?”
“I could try to, yeah. Who you looking for?”
“Gregory Everett Proops.” The man’s eyes narrowed slightly, and a wave of recognition passed over his eyes. I missed it, but Colin didn’t. “You’ve heard that name before. Where?”
“His name cropped up in our investigation about a year ago. It was kept quiet but a man was killed in a similar way to the recent killings. We never solved it, but Proops’ was a suspect.”
“How big a suspect?” I asked, my heart racing.
“Worthy enough for questioning, not enough for an arrest.”
“Why was he suspected?”
“He was an ex-boyfriend of the man, name Clive Anderson.”
“Clive?”
“He had moved here from Britain around fifteen years ago to be with Proops, but they split up about five years after he moved. We rejected Proops because he had no motive to kill him. It was an amicable split from what I’ve heard.”
“Could we get a copy of any records you have on Proops?”
“Sure, but if you’re investigating him too, it’s probably nothing that you’ve not got already.” The officer led the way out of the room and walked Colin and I back to my car. “Gents, if I can ask you something, off the books as it were.”
“What’s up?” I asked him, trying to remain as friendly as possible.
“How sure are you that it’s Proops?”
We both paused. I was fairly certain, but I knew that Colin had his doubts. “We’re about 60/40 at the moment.”
“I’ll tell you something here, but it’s got to remain off the books, strictly between us.”
“No problem.”
“We done a lie detector test on Proops and he didn’t know that we done it. He ended up in hospital about a month after Anderson’s death. Family reunion gone wrong. We switched one of the heart rate monitor detector for a bio-reactor - if you’re lying, you sweat more etc. We questioned him again in the hospital under the basis of new information, but truly, there was none. He was calm throughout the whole thing, the monitor never showed that he was lying at all. So either, he’s telling the truth, or he’s one of the most calculated killers in recent history.”
I turned to look at Colin. “He wasn’t calm with us. The opposite really.”
The officer continued. “When did he start getting agitated?”
“When we asked him about his partner, Drew Carey.” Colin supplied.
“That’s funny. The only time in the whole interview that the bio-reactor ever showed any signs of biological change in Proops was when Carey was discussed. It wasn’t for long, but his heart rate sped up quite quickly.”
Colin and I shared a look. His heart rate speeding up could mean several things, but it neither confirmed nor denied either of our suspicions. The officer looked at us as we silently discussed what this meant. We didn’t mean to leave him out, but it was like we could read other’s minds. We couldn’t obviously, but I could see everything that Colin was thinking in his expression and I knew that he could see what I was thinking through my own expressions.
“Gents,” he said, interrupting both our thoughts, “I’m going to go to the station and pick up anything we have on Proops and Brady. Do you want me to look through for Anderson too?”
“Yeah, please. That would be amazing.” Colin thanked him. We left the house with the officer but stood outside the building having a cigarette. I exchanged phone numbers with the officer who would phone me when he had the information we needed.
“Should we head back up after?” I asked Colin.
“What time is it?” Colin checked his watch. “Midday. If the guy - what was his name actually, I never asked him?”
“Flower.”
“Officer Flower? Strikes fear into my heart.” He shot off, making me laugh. “If he gets us the stuff in the next two hours, then yeah, we should maybe start driving back up.”
“Shame.” I mentioned.
“How so?”
“I like that bed.”
“Well, we’ve got roughly two hours. More than enough time I guess….” Colin said, and began walking back to the car. I was about to walk after him when my phone rang. I frowned at Colin.
“Surely he’s not that quick.” I hit the answer button on my phone. “Stiles.” Colin walked back towards me. “Still in San Francisco.” A look of shock must have passed over my face because a look of concern captured his own face. “When? We’re heading back now.” I hung up and let out a long sigh.
“What’s happened?”
“Drew Carey is in hospital.”
“Why?”
“Car accident. Something to do with the brakes.”
“Cut or failure?”
“They’re not sure yet. We’ve got to go straight to the hospital to arrest Proops. Can you drive?”
“Yeah, phone Flower. Get him to fax the stuff to the station.”
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Four hours later, I took over the driving. Flower had agreed to fax all the documents he had to the station. There wasn’t that many on Proops, but there was a full history of Anderson and Brady. The results had come back on, it definitely was the brakes on Carey’s car that had caused his accident, but it was unsure how they failed. I believe that there would be foul play evident, but Colin still wasn’t sure. He thought that it had been too easy to caught Proops.
“This sick bastard wants to be caught Ry, but not yet. He’s not perfecting his killing yet. If it was Proops, then it would have stopped. But Brady was killed.”
“He had time Col. We arrested Proops two nights ago. Brady was found on the day that we arrested Proops. He had time, and he could have believed that we would believe that he had an alibi by being at the club the next night.”
“But we caught him too easily Ry, this is the thing that’s bothering me. We caught Proops because he allowed Esten to take a picture of him on Sherwood’s phone. Why would you do that?”
“Hiding in plain sight. Since we’ve caught him, nothing’s happened. There’s been no murders.”
“He’s only been free for one day.”
“True, but surely you would go straight to the thing that you love most after being away from it for so long?”
“Proops did. He went to Carey.”
“And now Carey’s in hospital.”
“Still doesn’t prove that it’s him Ry, something’s telling me it’s not him.”
I stayed silent. There was no absolute solid evidence against Proops, but there was something about the man that made me uneasy.
“What do we do Ry? If we can’t figure this out.”
I looked over at Col, taking my eyes off the road for a second. “I don’t know. To be honest, it’s never crossed my mind for a second that we’d never solve this.”
“I know it’s horrible, but……some part of me doesn’t want to solve this case.”
“I know what you mean, Col.” I said, reaching over to take one of his hands. He grasped mine back with all the strength he possessed. “But we don’t end with this case, alright?” Colin smiled, but I could still feel the uncertainty about him. “Colin, look at me. Even though I can’t look back at you, look at me.” He gave a short laugh. “You know how I feel Col. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but we will not end with this case. I’ll fight with everything I have for this, alright?”
I jumped a little when I felt Colin’s lips on my cheek, but I also felt my heart swell to twice its size. I had just spoken from my heart, leaving it open for hurt and ache, but still, Colin had returned my feelings with a simple act. We drove most of the way back in silence, but it was a comfortable silence. I felt confident that, for now at least, I had settled Colin’s fears. Now it was simply a case of finding the murderer so we could concentrate on our relationship.
We drove straight to the hospital, bypassing the station. There was nothing at the station we needed until Flower faxed the documents we wanted. As we walked into the hospital, I felt a shiver pass up through my body, which Colin noticed immediately.
“You alright?”
“Yeah, I just don’t like hospitals.”
I asked the receptionist for Carey’s room, which she would only give me after I showed her my badge. As we walked along, we could hear Proops talking.
“I’m sorry Drew. It was a present, I wanted to get you something special for our anniversary. You always talked about that car, I can’t believe you found it. Then again, I’ve never been able to hide anything from you.” I felt Colin pull me back slightly, obviously wanting to hear the rest of Proops’ speech. “I wish I’d never been so stupid now, you’re my whole life. Those other guys, they’re nothing compared to you. I need you to wake up Drew, I need you to wake up and give me the chance to make it up to you, to make this right. I can’t live unless you’re there.” Proops started to cry then. I had never seen a grown man break into pieces in front of me before. And it's something that I'd never like experience again. Proops cried as though someone had torn his heart out. Nobody could act as distraught as he was. It was obvious to anyone that Proops didn't cut the brakes on Carey‘s car. He loved that man with every fibre of his body.
“Ry, why do we have to arrest Proops?” Colin whispered to me, not wanting Proops to hear us.
“On suspicion of the attempted murder of Carey.” I murmured back.
“It’s not him. You can see it as well as I can. That’s not acting, he doesn’t even know we’re here.”
“I think you’re right Col, but we’ve got our orders. We’ll quickly question him, prove his alibi’s and release him. Hopefully, Carey will wake up by then.”
Colin smiled his agreement, and made towards Carey’s room. I quickly followed. I wasn’t lying, I really hated hospitals. They were full of death and disease. To me, nothing good came out of hospitals. As we walked in, Proops spun round, his eyes full of tears.
“What do you want?” He sobbed harshly. “You come to enjoy this?”
A stab of guilt went through me, and I wasn’t sure why. Part of me was still fully convinced that Proops was our killer, but I was beginning to have doubts. Maybe he had killed the others, but Carey was just a freak accident. Maybe he hadn’t killed any of them, and was now experiencing the brunt of the killers’ actions. Or maybe he had tried to kill Carey and had failed.
“I’m sorry.” Colin said.
I took a deep breath. “Gregory Proops, you are under the arrest of the suspected attempted murder of Drew Carey. You do not have to say anything-”
“I know my rights Detective, you’ve read me them before.” Proops sighed. “Can we please just get this over with so I can return to my watch post?” This time, when Proops spoke, there was no attitude. There was sarcasm, but that seemed to be present with Proops all day, every day. Something in him had been broken. I nodded towards the door, but Proops turned to Carey first.
“I’m going for a short while, but I’ll be back. You better not do anything while I’m away, because, well, you know how I feel about you Drew. I love you more than anything. Wait for me to come back, wake up and give me the chance to make this right. I love you, and I’ll be back soon.” He pressed a kiss to Careys’ cheek, smiled softly and walked out the room. Colin stood and stared at Carey for a few seconds and followed Proops. I didn’t look at Carey, I just trailed behind Colin. There was too much shit going on, and I knew that if I looked at Carey, at the innocent man fighting for his life, I was lose it.
The drive to the station was silent. Proops didn’t speak a word, and neither did we. He occasionally sobbed, or wiped tears from his, but otherwise, there was not one sound from him. He was completely opposite to the man that we had arrested a few nights back. As we led Proops into the station, Officer Henderson cut us off.
“I’m sorry Detective, but the Chief wants to see you. He said that it’s urgent.”
I shared a glance with Colin, but I didn’t give anything away. “No problem, can you please escort the suspect to Interview Room 1, and get him something to drink.”
Proops spun round, a surprised look on his face. I gave him a small smile, which he returned to show his thanks. I had changed my mind since his last arrest. Nearly every serial killer had difficulty showing emotion, even to their nearest and dearest. After seeing Proops with Carey, my doubts about him and grown and grown, and I now shared Colin’s view.
As Henderson took Proops to the interview room, Colin and I made our way to Dicker’s office. One sharp knock, one quick answer and before I knew it, we were sitting opposite a clearly stressed Chief.
“What did you find in San Francisco?” He asked.
“We’re pretty sure that it’s the same killer sir. The victim’s skin was stripped, almost expertly, so we think that the killer is approaching the end. He’s close to finishing his masterpiece, so we need to catch him before he perfects his ‘skill’.”
Dicker sighed, and for some reason, I felt a weight in my stomach. He had bad news that he didn’t really want to tell us.
“Detective, there is something that you need to know. It involves you too Doctor.” I felt Colin tense up next to me, and it took every ounce of my strength not to reach out to him. “Another note was delivered to the hotel where Doctor Mochrie is apparently staying.” He passed the note over to us, sealed in a small evidence bag.
‘Dear Detective Stiles and Doctor Mochrie,
You haven’t quite listened to me, have you? Now, I’ll admit, you nearly had me. You are presenting the challenge that I was looking for, but again, I have to admit that I wasn’t expecting you to be as good as you are.
Are you admiring my work? I can see my own progress, and so, you must too. Clean kills, clean strips. Isn’t it interesting to see people at their barest? I wondering how you would look Doctor Mochrie. I think you could be my masterpiece.
I’ll have to admit a curiosity. The level of the relationship between the two of you. It puzzles and excites me. Perhaps, I could have two masterpieces. That challenge is one which interests me.
You were so close to me too, and you still are. You are the psychologist Doctor, and so I will confirm a point that you, by now, have surely made. You are closing in on me, even if you don’t feel like it. I want to be caught, but not now. My work needs to be appreciated, it is not enough for me to be unrecognised for my art anymore. An artist needs appreciation for his work in order to continue creating such masterpieces, no?
This is your last warning, to both of you. Leave the case now, and I’ll leave the two of you alone. If not, well, you will both get a first hand experience of how I create my art.’
I sat, stunned. This man, this…..complete fucker, had just threatened both Colin’s life, and my own. He had been watching us, obviously not as much as I had originally feared as he didn’t seem to know a huge amount about the relationship between Colin and myself. I looked at Colin, and saw the fear and anger in his eyes that I knew was reflected in my own.
“He’s wanting to get caught.” Dicker stated, “But he’s now deciding who it is going to be his apparent masterpiece.”
“We’re not leaving the case.” Colin said, the determination in his voice filled me with some form of pride. He looked at me, and I nodded to show my agreement, knowing that this had just become highly dangerous for us.
We were next.