"Great to see you and Levi hitting it off"
"Hitting it off!?" Eren protested "He just threatened to kill me"
Hanji burst out laughing as she strode down the corridor.
"Ah don't mind that" she said "I've been getting at least one death threat per day for the last five years…you'll get used to it"
Eren grumbled beneath his breath.
"Yeah sure I will"
Hanji stopped so abruptly Eren almost walked into the back of her. He leapt back alarmed as her head twisted round.
"I think he likes you" she crooned and the creepiest smile slithered onto her face.
Eren snorted.
"Pretty certain he hates me!"
Hanji giggled before proceeding to skip and dance ahead.
"I can't believe it!" she enthused "He told you about his mom. Levi never speaks about her ever. Damn you know how to get him talking, what's your secret?"
The young detective rolled his eyes. The silly woman was getting excited over nothing as usual.
"Ah but the flirting needs to stop" she teased "That's completely unprofessional Detective Jaeger"
"I wasn't flirting – it was him, he was messing with me!"
When Hanji cackled, Eren wanted to punch her. For a professional she could be so childish. She pulled out a key and unlocked the door to her office.
"Joking aside, you are making excellent progress with him" she said, beckoning him to go on in "Sorry about the mess"
Eren entered. It really was a mess; clutter on every surface; food cartons everywhere. A clean freak like Levi would have a heart attack if he saw. Hanji closed the door behind her.
"Don't be shy Eren, take a seat" she said, tossing banana peel off her desk and into the trash.
Tentatively the young detective sat down, wondering why the hell she brought him here. He braced himself for more senseless jabbering but to his surprise when Hanji sat down behind her desk she had a grave expression.
"I hear you guys found another body last night" she said.
"Yeah, it's awful" Eren replied "Just what we need right now"
A familiar 'tch' made the youngster turn his head. Eren was stunned to see that there was a TV in the corner of the room playing live surveillance footage. He frowned. So this is where Hanji had been sitting watching them like a stalker. The young detective stared at the screen, watching Levi as he ritualistically inspected and wiped down every surface. He turned back to Hanji and realised she too was watching the killer with thoughtful intent.
"Hey! What gives?" Eren gasped when she lunged forward and seized both of his wrists. Those beady eyes of hers glinted behind her spectacles.
"I've been meaning to show you something"
Anxious for what he was letting himself in for Eren nodded. The fanatical psychologist gave a squeal of delight and released him.
"Yes!" she cheered "I knew you had a curious mind Eren!"
Eren rubbed his arm and groaned. He sure hoped it was worth it. The doctor leapt up and rifled through her filing cabinet. Whatever this was she'd been itching to share it. She flung document after document out of the drawer.
"I meant to show you this the other day when we were talking about it" she said "But I couldn't find the damn thing"
Then she gasped; her face lit up.
"Ha! Yes"
She'd found what she was looking for. Hanji pulled out a folder and slammed the drawer shut. From her crouched position she gazed up at Eren, hair tumbling everywhere. That was when his heart began to race.
"I warn you" she said breathlessly "Some of these pictures aren't pretty"
Eren sniffed and frowned.
"I didn't train for police work because I thought it would be 'pretty'" he said tetchily.
Hanji's eyes darkened with approval.
"Oh I'm glad"
The rookie's mouth froze in a stiff grimace. Behind the bravado he was actually very anxious about this.
But when Hanji dropped the file in front of him, he was oddly surprised.
"Huh- what's this?"
The cover image was a young woman; long black hair; ashen skin; pale grey eyes. When Eren looked closer he almost choked.
"Oh my gosh! Is that…"
He'd never met her but she was so jarringly familiar. Before Eren even set eyes on the name beneath the picture he knew he was looking at the mother of Levi Ackerman.
"Wow strong family resemblance" he marvelled.
It was like looking at the killer in the feminine form; kinder eyes, softer features.
Eren felt a pang in his chest when he read the caption.
THE MURDER OF KUCHEL ACKERMAN, 1989.
When Hanji opened the folder, Eren's heart accelerated. This was far too close to home. He didn't want to see any more death today.
"There are some pictures of her youth here" said Hanji.
To Eren's relief Kuchel was very much alive in all these images. The photos were from her teenage years. She was well dressed and lived in a large house. Eren was baffled how she went from this apparent luxury to being a penniless prostitute.
"She was pretty wasn't she" Hanji remarked and Eren nodded but 'pretty' didn't come close. The only way to describe Kuchel Ackerman was hauntingly beautiful – just like her son. In every picture she was like a doll, carefully posed for the camera. Yet sadness loomed behind every smile.
Eren turned the page. One picture caught his eye.
"Who is this man?"
Kuchel stood beneath a tree wearing a white dress. She clutched the arm of a sinister figure in a long black coat and a fedora hat.
Hanji adjusted her glasses.
"Ah!" she said, her frown was all telling "That is the sickest, most twisted crime lord this city has ever seen"
"Well what's he doing here with Kuchel?"
Everything about this man gave Eren the creeps. Yet the young Kuchel Ackerman looked up at him so admiringly. Hanji turned to Eren.
"He is her older brother" she said solemnly "Kenny Ackerman"
Eren puffed in amazement. So Levi wasn't the only poisonous apple to fall from the Ackerman family tree.
Eren turned the page. The next photograph near broke his heart.
"When their wealthy Grandfather died, he left the family nothing but crippling debt" said Hanji "Kenny turned to crime, Kuchel to prostitution"
The date beneath the picture told Eren that it was taken just six years after the one beneath the tree. He couldn't help but gasp at the sight of a much thinner and prematurely aged Kuchel Ackerman. How had she fallen so far? A hard life had robbed her of her youth but not her poignant beauty. Her eyes were sunken and glistening with tears but she was still smiling; not at the camera but the bundle of blankets in her arms.
"She loved her son" said Hanji " I have no doubt she laid down her life protecting him"
Eren peeled back the edge of the page and let go when he caught a glimpse of a white dress stained red. He got a lump in his throat. He knew what was coming.
It was like watching a movie, already knowing the tragic twist, yet still wanting the outcome to turn out differently.
"Oh no" he whispered mournfully.
He hadn't realised how upset he was until a tear escaped when he closed his eyes.
Gently Eren turned the page.
A young mother stabbed to death, an absent father, a misguided child who turned to violence.
This story was familiar.
Dormant memories were surfacing.
Eren's bloodlust had once been real.
Across the desk Hanji looked on worriedly. The image of Kuchel Ackerman's gored body lay between them. Eren pushed it away.
"Hanji why?" he sniffled "Why did you make me look at this?"
For a split second, he saw stabbed to death not a woman with black hair but dark brown. Hanji's face furrowed with guilt.
"I wasn't trying to upset you Eren" she insisted "But look…"
"I don't need to look again!" Eren shoved it away "Who did this to her?"
Then he hung his head. He'd lashed out unfairly. Hanji wasn't to blame. It was his own dark curiosity that made him turn that page.
The doctor sighed and stared at her folded hands.
"Unfortunately this sort of thing happens to sex workers all the time" she deplored "Nobody was ever charged with the murder"
Sickened, Eren slammed the folder shut.
In the background the killer drifted into view on the screen, quietly engrossed in his ritualistic cleaning. Eren's eyes were locked on him. For the first time he saw something darker in the act.
"Levi was there wasn't he?" he murmured.
It was more than just cleaning, it was compulsive, a need to be in control.
Hanji too gazed at the monitor.
"Only he knows what he saw that night" she sighed "But he was in the house without doubt… he was found hiding in an under bed drawer"
Eren felt numb. He tried to visualise the serial killer as that terrified boy. There once was a time that monster felt something as mortal as fear.
"What happened to him then?"
"His uncle took him in"
"Wait! The man from the photo, Kuchel's brother?"
Hanji nodded sadly.
"Oh yes" she said "And if seeing his mother die didn't screw poor Levi up then that man certainly did"
Eren sighed dolefully. He couldn't listen to another tale from Levi's childhood. It was one tragedy after another. What chance had he stood to become anything other than a monster?
"Kenny Ackerman was a man without morals" said Hanji "A drunk, a womaniser and a cut throat thug! Yeah he was quite a big deal back in the day. A high roller in the black market…"
Eren glanced at the monitor again. Levi had sat down on the edge of his bed and was staring at the wall with no expression. The young detective was torn. He didn't know what to feel for him anymore. Should he feel sorrow for the helpless child he'd once been or loathing for the twisted killer he grew up to be?
The urge to cry arose again.
"So I'd imagine the Chief Inspector is pretty stressed with all that's going on?" said Hanji.
The change of subject was jarring. Eren shrugged.
"Seems to be taking it in his stride to be honest"
The mention of Erwin unsettled the youngster. A frown or a change in posture must have given it away.
"You're still annoyed at him?" Hanji enquired.
Eren folded his arms.
"Nah, I'm over it"
Distrustfully, the doctor eyed him.
"He's only human you know" she said "Put yourself in his shoes, how would you feel to be betrayed like that"
Eren not knowing how else to respond shrugged again. He couldn't help the way he felt about this, whatever Erwin's reasons were for not telling him about his history of working with Levi.
"I hadn't realised they were so close" he muttered "Anyway like I say, I'm over it"
But then he remembered something else the Chief Inspector was rather cagey about this morning.
"Hanji?" he said unsurely "I was wondering if you could help me out with something"
The psychologist beamed warmly.
"Anything Eren, I'm all ears"
Eren shifted his feet under the desk. He hoped she would be the one to finally answer his question. But still he was hesitant to ask, perhaps because he already suspected the worst. Needing an answer once and for all, Eren spat it out.
"Where's Detective Leonhart?"
Hanji's pen slipped from her grasp.
"No, don't!" Eren snapped before she could speak. He was sick of everyone getting so damn twitchy every time her name was mentioned "Is she dead or what?"
Hanji's eyes widened behind her glasses. When she gave no answer Eren boldly asked again.
"She's dead isn't she?"
He'd suspected since this morning. Something about Erwin's conduct suggested this young woman was no longer alive. Perhaps gunned down on duty as a result of a careless decision on his part. For once Hanji was speechless. But she knew. That Eren was certain of.
"I...I don't know" the doctor babbled.
"I don't believe you"
"No Eren I really don't know"
Hanji's eyes shifted left then right; outside the door came the sound of whistling and footsteps; a prison officer was walking by.
"Eren listen to me…" Hanji hissed; her eyes briefly flitted to the door. They both listened as the sound of whistling and jingling keys grew fainter. The usually upbeat woman had a troubled expression.
"Ok, you want the quick answer?" she growled "Then ok yes she is dead"
Eren folded his arms, irritated that it took this long to get to the truth.
"Knew it!" he scoffed.
"She jumped off Bridge Sina a week after Levi's arrest"
"Hold on, what?"
Eren hoped he'd misheard.
"They never found her body though" said Hanji, confirming his ears had not deceived him.
A chill swept through Eren.
"You mean she took her own life" he whispered.
Suicide was something that was never spoken of - only whispered about.
"Why's Jaeger getting out of class again? - Therapy duh! He's crazy! Apparently he tried and failed to kill himself - That's what I heard! - He should have done us all a favour and just jumped!"
Eren screwed up his face at the memory. Even whispers could be loud. Those ignorant fucking idiots!
"But-but why?" he whimpered "Why did she do it?"
Had Annie Leonhart had nobody to turn to when she hit rock bottom? Nobody to pull her to safety when she climbed over the railings of that bridge.
"Seems her conscious may have caught up with her" said Hanji "The extent of Leonhart's corruption was only revealed after her she was an ambitious one. But he was on to her"
Her eyes flitted to the killer on the screen.
"You mean Levi?" Eren said in surprise.
A grin twisted onto the doctor's face.
"Ah, the irony!" she laughed "He set out to expose her but instead she was the one who exposed him. The way I understand it the two of them never saw eye to eye"
Eren had figured it out. It could be no coincidence that Detective Leonhart took her life within days of capturing the serial killer. He turned to the monitor and frowned. The pity he felt for the killer only moments ago evaporated.
"He has something to do with this!"
There was a connection here but Eren couldn't quite work out what it was.
"I'm not the right person to be asking" Hanji implored "And to be honest the suicide story doesn't add up…everyone said it was highly out of character for Leonhart"
The young detective scowled. He wasn't satisfied with the scraps of information she was throwing him.
"While Levi was awaiting trial Leonhart interrogated him" bristled Hanji "Supposedly he said something to her; something that may have tipped her over the edge. He can be very manipulative. Most likely he threatened to expose her; perhaps she couldn't live with the shame"
"He tormented her into taking her own life!" the young man seethed.
"If you want to believe the media sensationalisation then yes that is what I am saying" said Hanji shaking her head "But to me it doesn't add up, Annie Leonhart was a force to be reckoned with, not the type to break so easily"
But Eren had stopped listening.
It brought him nothing but sorrow to think that this young woman Annie Leonhart. No matter what her misdeeds were he still felt nothing but sorrow to think of her letting go and falling from that bridge.
He'd almost been there. Thank God for Mikasa and Armin.
Eren jolted when Hanji snatched his wrist.
"Eren I have a theory, I'd like you to hear it…."