"You should have waited."
William ignored his friend, Carter Novik. He was a FBI agent under Jack Crawford untill Jack retired and gave up his position to him. Now, he's the one hunting down serial killers.
"The newer the blood. The fresher the ideas." He answered back without looking at his smirking friend. "Don't pretend that you don't like that. You are the one who sent me those photos and gave me permission to use in my lecture."
They went out shoulder by shoulder. One, slim and soft, with black hair and welcoming expression. One, broad and tall, a big man with hispanic features. Two best friends, well-known in their circle of colleages as invincible two, because of their reputations in success rate of catching killers.
"Where are we going?"
"You do even need to ask? We are going to the crime scene." William followed Carter to his car. He had to increase his pace to keep up with Carter's long stride.
"Another? Copy cat too?"
That stopped hisfriend. Carter whirled around. "Are you sure that's Copy Cat?"
William shrugged. "I think so."
"You told me yesterday that it is highly possible to be the Ripper's work."
Will shook his head. "I was not sure untill this morning."
"Tell me. Why do you think it's the copycat, and not the Chesapeake Ripper himself?"
"It's the motive, Carter. The motive."
"What motive! Hannibal Lector has no motive. He is a hunter who hunts for kill and ...and for consummation." Will rolled his eyes while Carter raised his voice and drew the attention of a couple of trainees. "All he cares about is the process of preparing the victims,both anatomically and culinarily. Every process James and Nora had performed showed exactly the same what Hannibal had done before!"
"Carter. We are in the Parking lot. Not in the task force room." Will said in a low voice, his face clearly showing irritation. Carter had always been a hot-headed man, but straight as an arrow,by-the-book type of agent. He never broke any rules even in the rampaging moments. That's why he was in the top and climbing ladders of command in a steady rate.
Carter glanced side to side, scaring away the curious trainees and fellow agents and even a few passerbys, with his hard stony gently touched Will's arm gesturing him to quickly follow him. "Let s go."
"I have my car, you know." Will sighed slipping into the passenger seat of Carter's Range Rover.
In The Taskforce room.
Carter Novik, Head of the Unit for Serial Homicide and Violent Crime, James Novik, Carter's energetic younger brother and a hotshot agent,and the FBI coroner,Dr. Nora Hanoki. All principal members of the taskforce were sitting around the big round table, eagerly waiting for Graham Jr., the son of the famous FBI special agent Will Graham, and rising star of Criminal Psychology,a psychiatrist as well as a FBI special agent.
"There is no evidence that I can point out clearly that this is a work of Copycat." Will continued ignoring the upset looks of his fellow agents. "This is all hypothesis."
He clicked the start and the projector in front of them show the separate photos of his father and Hannibal Lector side by side.
"We all know that Lector killed the girl to make a point. He didn't want to be mistaken with the Minnesota Shrike. He wanted to show that he's the superior one. The more powerful one." He stopped talking,showing the crime scene photo of the Ripper's Victim. And then, the picture of Jacob Hobbs, the infamous Minnesota Shrike, the one his father had killed with the help of Hannibal Lector, a fact the people before him didn't know. They also didn't know that his father was the one Hannibal Lector was trying to show the difference. He, being the son of the Will Graham, knew everything between his father and the infamous chrismatic cannibal. Not even with his death, would he reveal the relationship between the two brilliant men.
"Everything about Hannibal has a purpose. He displayed his victims to prove a point. They always carry a message. They always have a meaning. He thinks he's God. To him, the displays are the messages he send to us."
He paused again to show the latest photo of the crime scene, he now well knew,that the work of a copy cat.
"This crime scene means nothing. The display means nothing. The killer is just trying to recreate exactly what Hannibal Lector had done. All he is a son trying to imitate his father, following his father's step, copying him. Hoping to reach the greatness his father had achieved."
If he were facing his friends, they would see his eyes gazing nothing, losing himself inside the world of imagination. In his head, he was standing in a field of cat-tails, before him was the latest victim of the Hannibal Copycat. She was a pretty girl. Looking at her made his heart ache with sympathy. How young! How vibrant! Killing her must be so much satisfying for the killer. Someone stepped beside him. He looked at the new comer.
He was looking right into the dark blue eyes of his own. He was looking right into his own face. A mirror appear before him. And the image shows no one. He was invisible. He was anonymous.
"Will!" Carter's voice snapped him back to the reality. "Are you alright? "
"Yeah. I'm alright."
He looked back to his friend. They all saw him wearing the face of enlightenment. And they knew that he had broken the message of the killer.
"He was Anonymous. Brilliant people like him hates anonymy. He is making a statement to the world of his existence."
Will's voice suddenly cold and impassive,"Ladies and Gentlemen. We now have a new Hannibal Lector in town."