"So, the Minnesota Shrike is dead then?"
"Yes." agreed William as Jack sat at his desk, scrutinising every inch of his report. "I killed him...not very cleanly I'll grant you but it's over. There will be no more bodies."
Jack absorbed this information as Doctor Hannibal Lecter knocked softly on the glass door of his office.
Lecter quickly walked into the room before removing a creased envelope from his blazer pocket and placing it carefully onto the table in front of Will.
"This was given to me by a young girl by the name of Eden Lake. It is addressed to you."
Will Graham frowned quizzically at Hannibal before picking up the envelope, "Eden?"
Hannibal nodded as Jack glanced back and forth between them.
"Who is this girl? A friend of yours?" asked Jack.
Will shook his head, "She was victim in one of my cases about six months ago-"
"The Baltimore Butcher." cut in Lecter.
William nodded as he slowly opened the envelope and began to read aloud,
"My dearest William,
As you know, it is not in my character to write letters such as this but I am afraid I have no other choice.
For many months now my father has become increasingly violent and I now fear for both my own and my mother's safety.
His actions are becoming more and more erratic and I am worried that he may resort to something drastic.
All I ask is that you stop by and check on us because if you are in fact reading this, it means that someone arrived at my house not that long ago and I entrusted this letter to them.
By now my father will have jumped to his own conclusions about this visitor and I may already be running out of time.
I implore you to help just this once.
Sincerely yours, Eden Lake."
When he had finished reading, William was already grabbing his coat and Hannibal was holding the office door open, ready to leave.
"I take it you're both going down there then?" inquired Jack.
The two men simultaneously replied,
"Of course."
"Obviously."
Jack sighed and grabbed his coat, "Then I guess I'd better come with you then. I'll bring a couple of officers down as well, just in case."
"Thanks Jack!" shouted Will as he began sprinting down the hallway to the car park with Hannibal in tow.
When they arrived William could tell there was something wrong; the front door was lying open and the entire atmosphere surrounding the house was just...off.
"Mr and Mrs Lake, this is the FBI, we're coming in!" shouted Jack with his gun raised at eye level.
The entire house was a mess and Will suddenly had that gut-wrenching feeling that perhaps they were already too late.
Broken glass was strewn along the carpeted hall, the television was scattered across the living room...
and Agatha Lake lay dead on the kitchen floor.
Her neck was twisted at a grotesque angle and her sun-flower dress was smeared in the blood that covered her battered face.
Suddenly a scream pierced the air and all eyes looked to the second floor.
"Upstairs." whispered William.
Without hesitation all three of them climbed the stairs two at a time to find Joseph Lake attempting to break down his daughter's bedroom door with a hammer.
Jack was the first to respond, "Joseph Lake, put the hammer down and place your hands on your head!"
The man in front of them turned mid-swing, his eyes manic when he saw Doctor Lecter standing on the stairs.
He shouted, "You! You helped the bitch! This is your fault!"
Lake came rushing towards them but two gunshots rang out and stopped him before he could even get close.
Jack slowly lowered his weapon and called to the officers downstairs, "We got another body up here!"
Doctor Lecter edged slowly around the now dead Mr Lecter and knocked twice on Eden's bedroom door.
"Eden? It's Doctor Lecter, it's okay. You can come out now."
An uncomfortable silence passed before a hesitant voice came from behind the door, "Is William there?"
Lecter turned to Will Graham who was carefully making his way towards the door, "Yes Eden, I'm here."
"Is he dead?" asked the girl.
"Yes." he replied bluntly. "He's dead."
A few seconds passed before the bedroom door slowly inched open to reveal a bloodied version of Will Graham's old acquaintance.
She looked up at him through bloodshot eyes, "I was hoping you'd come."
William smiled and gently guided her downstairs and outside to the ambulance van that had just arrived.
He handed her over to be examined as Hannibal walked up behind him,
"Congratulations Will, you've saved another one."
Will looked at him but said nothing as Jack hung up his phone and came marching towards them.
"That was the Forensics Department. They just found DNA in Garrett Jacob-Hobbs' cabin." he stated.
"And?" Will prompted.
"The DNA belongs to Joseph Lake."
