Chapter 29

Hoffman was on his way to the police department while going over multiple things in his head. Perez was alive. Strahm was dead. He still wasn't over his emotional loss. Amanda still came to him in his dreams. Losing her was harder than losing his sister. Though he didn't know why. He'd watch the tape over and over again, just to hear her say she loved him.

He walked into one of the rooms to find Erickson and Perez. Both of them working at a computer. Erickson got up and shook his hand.

"Thanks for coming in." Erickson said.

"What'd you find?" Hoffman asked.

"An abnormality in Strahm's fingerprint." Erickson explained. "Take a look." Hoffman hurried around Perez's desk and looked at the computer.

"So, the human fingerprint leaves and oily residue, depending on how long it's exposed to the elements, it's highly susceptible to contamination." Perez explained.

"So what's the problem?"

"We found trace amounts of helomethane R12." She said.

"She means freon." Erickson translated.

"Production of R12 was ceased in 1994. So, the question is, was the contaminant at the crime scene already or did Strahm bring it in with him?" Perez wondered.

"We're looking into the building's function, before it was abandoned." Erickson said, obviously pleased with their new find. The phone rang and Erickson went to answer it.

"Did you find anything in the Seth Baxter tape?" Hoffman asked.

"Uh, yeah. Actually." She replied. "We might be onto something. The tape was in pretty rough shape when we found it. But we were able to authenticate it. The voice was intentionally distorted. But, it didn't match John Kramer's. It's currently being analyzed."

"For what?" Hoffman asked.

"Well, we're trying to descramble the tape. To find the original voice. He's on with the tech right now." She nodded to Erickson.

"You timing something?" She asked. "Your watch."

"Oh, yeah, I was before I got your call. Yeah." Hoffman lied.

"We got it." Erickson said as he hung up the phone. "This is our smoking gun. The lab's off site. Common." Perez got up and followed. "You're coming, right?"

"Of course." Hoffman replied as he followed them.

"How's it going?" Perez asked as they got to the lab.

"Good." The woman replied. She was running over voices from the tape.

"This is it." Erickson said to Hoffman.

"Whoever made this tape had access to some very impressive audio filtration equipment." The woman said.

"Right now, you're feeling helpless." The voice repeated. It was his voice. Hoffman's voice. Only, they didn't know it yet.

"Fortunately, we have some tricks of our own her." The woman said. Hoffman tensed a little. "We can turn his algerithm upside down, and let us here what he really sounds like."

"Let us here whatcha got." Erickson said. Hoffman walked around impatiently. Perez watched him closely.

"You okay?" She asked.

"Huh?"

"You seem a little, preoccupied." She explained.

"I'm just anxious about the tape." He told her.

"Ya know, there's still a couple of things I can't wrap my head around." Perez said. "Like, I don't understand Strahm's motivation. He was my partner for five years. I mean, we all knew he was a bit of a hothead, but I never saw any indication of phsycotic behavior."

"Ya never can really tell when someone's falling on the inside." Hoffman said. Perez and Erickson gave him a strange look. He walked over and poured himself a cup of coffee.

"Here that?" The woman asked, obviously finding something. "We're getting there."

"Common, I thought you had something to show us." Erickson said.

"Yeah, it's just I never really thought about him as being vengeful." Perez continued on the Strahm topic. "I mean, all the facts are there, but something doesn't sit right." Hoffman knew she was onto him.

"It's getting closer." The woman said.

"You know, there is an alternative." Erickson said. "Let's say Strahm killed Seth Baxter to set you up as an accomplice to Jigsaw."

"Okay." Hoffman said, setting down his coffee.

"But there's a problem with that though." Erickson continued. "On further analysis of Strahm's fingerprints, it was found that the uric acid levels were inconsistent with someone with an active epidermal metabolism."

"In other words?" Hoffman picked up his coffee again.

"In other words, when we lifted his fingerprints from the latest victim, Strahm was already dead." Erickson said.

"Erickson," The woman called. "There it is!"

"Right now your feeling helpless." His own voice echoed back to him. Hoffman acted quickly. He grabbed a knife from his pocket and cut Erickson's throat. He splashed his hot coffee in Perez's face as she tried to draw her gun. He jammed his knife into some electrical hook ups, making an alarm go off. He grabbed the woman used her as a human shield as Perez shot three times at him. He pushed the woman against the wall the grabbed Perez.

He stabbed her repeatedly in the stomach, she cried out in pain.

"Who else knows about me?" He asked, digging the knife into her stomach. She put her hand on his face.

"Everyone!" She gasped.

"You lie!" He said. "You fucking lie!" He pulled the knife out and watched her sink to the ground. He threw him knife on the ground and left. He got to his car and opened the trunk. He opened the freezer and took out Strahm's hand. He went back to the lab.

He touched the hand to the gun and a few other things. Then poured gas around the whole lab. He lit a whole pack of matches and threw them onto the floor. He watched the lab burn, for only a second.

A/N: Sorry, I realize that I made A LOT of spelling mistakes. But I'm not sure how to spell somethings, and others, I couldn't exactly tell what the say in the movie. So bare with me, thanks.