"Well, thanks to Freddie Lounds, there's an unconfirmed story floating out there. That the Chesapeake Ripper's already in custody."
"Unconfirmed? Am I confirming? Fact-checking for Freddie Lounds..." That certainly didn't sit well with Will.
"You're fact-checking for me." Jack said, like that made it any better.
"Yeah? Well, fuck you too, Jack." Will thought hard at the other man's head.
"Is this why you've been so pissy all morning?" Will asked under his breath as he fell along side the free range Chesapeake Ripper. Hannibal had been upset about something since well before breakfast.
"Pissy isn't a real word." Hannibal was, indeed, in a very pissy mood.
"Your level of pissyness would beg to differ." Will said before running up ahead to walk beside Jack again, leaving a murderous little storm cloud to trail in behind them.
"I always feel a little nervous going into these places." Will said.
"Why's that?" Jack asked. Something about him had changed slightly in regard to Will, his responses a little more subdued than usual. It made the profiler wonder what had been discussed in his absence.
"Afraid they won't let me out." Will admitted. Considering Chilton was in charge here, he was really rolling the dice on this one. He barely felt safe enough doing so even with Hannibal and Jack in his corner.
"Don't worry. I won't leave you here." Jack said, definitely nicer today for whatever reason.
"Yeah, not today." Will snorted softly, trying to ignore a foreboding feeling.
"Please, gentlemen, take a seat." Chilton was just as awful as ever, more so with whatever had gone on here on this day. Will and Jack sat down, but Hannibal remained standing to elegantly stare out the window with morose vibe, posed with hands behind his back. The result of that was Chilton looking a little butt hurt because the most wanted attention in the room wasn't front and center upon him like he felt it should be.
"Thank you. Dr. Chilton. We are going to need to see the crime scene while it's still relatively undisturbed." Jack could be cordial when it suited him.
"I assure you, for something so disturbing, it is quite undisturbed." Chilton said, making Will want to roll his eyes into the back of his head. The man wanted to be Hannibal so badly it was embarrassing, the way he kept glancing over at the source. Chiton and Franklin, Hannibal's patient from before, were like funhouse mirror caricatures of the man, just in different variations.
"Why was a nurse left alone with a prisoner in a high security psychiatric hospital?" Will asked, direct and a touch harsh, pleased when Chilton lost some of his pomp.
"I was wondering that myself. Elizabeth Shell was an exceptional nurse. Her compassion and good humor will be notably missed from this establishment." Hannibal said gravely, making Chilten even more uncomfortable.
"Oh, you knew her?" Chilton asked somewhat shrilly, looking to mollify the situation as quickly as possible.
"Yes, we worked side by side at John Hopkins for several years. I recall she was exemplary in her duties." Which did not bode well for Chilton. Hannibal had a deep appreciation for nurses. It would also be a dire insult if someone used his methods to dispatch a human he deemed worthy of living. Someone was going to be paying in pounds of flesh for it.
"For the two years since he was brought here, Gideon behaved perfectly and gave every appearance of cooperating with attempts at therapy. As directed by our president administrator, security around him was slightly...relaxed." Chilton tried to cover his ass. No one was impressed by it. "I can't help feel responsible myself for what happened. He sat directly across from me, and I had no idea what he was hiding. And now, one of our staff is dead."
"As you should, Frederick." Hannibal said, leaving off the window to come lean against the back of Will's chair, who tried not to think about talking ravens and the macabre.
" I understand, Dr. Chilton. Mr. Graham is going to need to see the crime scene with as much privacy as you can m." Jack played peacemaker.
"Oh, yes, that thing you do." Chilton said, like it hadn't been on the forefront of everybody's mind. He was trying his focus upon Will down, but kept getting distracted by the master of the deadeye stare standing behind the profiler.
"Yes, that thing I do. I'd like to see the crime scene now." Will mocked back.
"So Gideon was restrained?" Jack asked , the men leaving the office to follow Chilton.
"Handcuffed." Chilton confirmed.
"Hmm.." Jack made a noncommittal noise, a law enforcement go-to intended to prompt more information.
"He concealed a fork tine in the palm of his hand, and used it to pick the lock." Chilton explained.
" Where is he now?" Will asked.
"In his cell. You'll note the removal of organs and the abdominal mutilations are all consistent with the Chesapeake Ripper." Chilton said.
"So is the brutalization of the corpse, but that doesn't change the fact that the Ripper is still out there." Jack said with unfounded yet accurate certainty.
"Jack, what I'm about to show you will suggest otherwise." Chilton said with such confidence, Will had to look anywhere, but Hannibal to keep from laughing at a truly horrific crime scene.
"The fuck it does." Will thought despite himself, choking down mounting humor.
"Dr. Chilton consulted on the case when we failed to catch the Ripper after his last series of murders." Jack supplied.
"Did he now." Will drawled out with sudden insight. So that's how Gideon decided upon becoming the Chesapeake Ripper. This was going to be a case of pure plagiarism. In Will's opinion, it was a hell of a way to make it back to Hannibal's table. The profiler debated with himself on whether or not if he would eat Chilton. Meanwhile, Hannibal had the same energy of an insulted cat, one that was tapping its tail.
"The reason you failed and keep failing to catch the Chesapeake Ripper was that I already had him." Chilton said with such finesse he must have rehearsed it.
Will couldn't help it. He laughed and laughed, making everyone more and more uncomfortable the longer it went on. Staring at Nurse Shell, Hannibal was too busy being quietly pissed while composed about to notice at first, which made Will laugh all the more.
"I fail to see what's so funny. This is a very serious matter. We finally know who the Chesapeake Ripper is." Chilton said incredulously at last, the real Chesapeake Ripper standing right next to him, which did nothing to elevate the situation.
"I would have to concur with Doctor Chilton, Will." Hannibal said in all seriousness as Will looked back at him with bright eyes and a wide grin. "Are you well?"
"Never been better actually. Sorry, sorry, you're right." Will said, waving the room off as he somehow managed to get himself back under control. Someone was dead, had died horribly, and all for nothing. "Too much coffee and irony, not enough sleep, tons of stress, everyone has their breaking it would seem, yada, yada, yada."
"Let us know when you're done." Jack said, motioning to Chilton for them to take their leave. It was nice to know which priorities Jack had in order. Anyone else would have told Will to leave after that little outburst.
"Aren't we staying?" Chilton asked, a last minute monkey wrench suddenly thrown into his plans.
"Nope." Will said quite firmly.
"Hannibal is staying." Chilton pointed out, stubborn and petulant.
"Yup. He sure is." Will said as he shut the door in Chilton's face.
It was the easiest reconstruction because Will didn't bother to relive it. Hannibal noticed immediately, the two of them have a silent argument about it. It was mostly made up of part mime and silently worded phases.
The Ripper gave Will a very sour look when the profiler finally opened the door, hamming it up for Jack and Chilton's return. Will draped himself against the doorframe like it was the only thing propping him up, shaking and gasping for air.
"I dunno, Jack. This is really on point." Will said as he put back on his glasses as dramatically as possible. He threw in some hand trembling as a finishing touch. He got to witness Hannibal imploded in the most contained way possible as Chilton preened and made some rather annoying noises about being right.
"You think Gideon the Ripper?" Jack asked while Hannibal gave him a sharp warning look.
"And as far as we know, it's been over two years since the Chesapeake Ripper killed?" Will said fake thoughtfully, "When was Gideon committed?"
"Two years ago." Chilton smugly supplied. Hannibal was absolutely seething now, staring Will down with dark eyes full of cruel intent behind Jack.
"I will point out that the brutalization of the body was performed posthumously. That certainly doesn't fit with the Ripper's methodology." Hannibal intervened, couldn't help himself really.
"True, but if Gideon was just scratching an old itch, he might have been allowing himself some editing due to time constraints. Could be a case of making anything old new again." Will parried easily, Hannibal's person suit getting frayed along its edges. "I'm just not sure. Don't want to risk being wrong. We're going to have to interview him."
As much fun as it was to screw with Hannibal, as soon as they arrived
to contend with Gideon, Will was all business. The man himself lounged around his cell, obviously quite pleased with himself. "I don't know you two. That's interesting." Gideon said in greeting.
"Were you expecting a familiar face?" Hannibal asked as he sized up his imposter. He didn't look impressed by what he found.
"I think we can both agree that Doctor Bloom is far more favorable company. I was hoping her, but you'll do." Gideon said, "At least one of you dressed appropriately for the occasion."
"We'll just have to agree to disagree then." Will said, making look Gideon keen as he studied them back.
"Oh, I see. Traded out and up. Can't say I blame you. His shoes cost more than everything you currently have on your body. That includes whatever cash you may, or more than likely may not have, in your wallet, and you know what they say about men with big feet." Gideon smirked, "I've met a lot of psychiatrists in the last two years. They must have brought you two in special for me."
"In a manner of speaking." Will said, giving Gideon nothing back. "I'm Special Agent Will Graham, and this is Doctor Hannibal Lecter."
"Ah, I do know you both after all, in the peripheral of different social circles. Interesting." Gideon said, maneuvering to establish himself. " So, Agent Graham, what is this to be? I was caught red-handed. I mean literally, there's no mystery as to whodunit. I did it. Not much left for a pig and his poke to deduce."
"The mystery is whether you are who you say you are." Will went for mildly 'not worth my time' condescending to get well in under the skin . "Or not."
"Never liked being called that. The Chesapeake Ripper." And that ruffled some feathers. "Maybe some thing with a little bit more wit."
Bad move of Gideon's part. Hannibal happened to be quite proud of his title, enjoying the reference to another doctor and fellow serial killer, dear old Jack.
"Is that why you didn't take credit for the Ripper's murders before now?" Hannibal asked. Will could tell by the glint in his eyes that Hannibal was ready to go, the men parting to stand in different places. Will leaned against a far wall while Hannibal placed himself directly in front of Gideon, their locations making it impossible for him to keep both men in his line of sight at the same time. To look at one would expose himself to the other. Didn't matter he was in his cell or not. Gideon was feeling more exposed than safe.
"Just watching the goose chase from the box seats." Gideon said loftily, though he was starting to unsettle. There were lions in the room after all.
"Two years of goose chasing. You must be a very patient man." Will went next, conveying this with paper cut disdain in his voice to get Gideon's goose.
"Are you going to run the psychopathic checklist here? I have had my personality inventory by the Minnesota multiphasic." It had the desired effect. Gideon was starting his dissent.
"Would you prefer a Rorschach test?" Hannibal offered, cool and aloof.
"Well, if you're gonna show me those pictures, maybe you should put a blood pressure cuff to my genitals. I find it gives a much truer gauge of reaction." Gideon switched tactics, trading out illusions of grandeur for vulgarity. It left his strange company visibly unaffected.
"What effect were you hoping to have by killing the night nurse?" Will asked, arranging himself to work in tandem of compare and contrast. Hannibal maintained an air of glacier clinical indifference, focusing on Gideon as if he were a moth pinned in place, while Will's posturing was all lazy boned boredom, a disinterested observer here out of necessity. They were not the expected, wanted company Gideon had been ready to deal with.
"The fact I was hoping to have was her death. Mission accomplished." Gideon said, getting louder. He was not getting the validation he so desperately wanted. He was beginning to notice that the costume identity he had been made to wear didn't really quite fit him. It didn't help his nerves either that anytime he was looking at one of them, the other made an ever so slight movement in his peripheral vision. It made Gideon look like he was watching a tennis match rather than being interviewed.
"Brutalization of the body was done post-humorously." Hannibal pointed out.
"Thing is...the Chesapeake Ripper usually does that sort of thing during," Will said, a smirk tugging at his lips. "Not after."
"I do not have to convince you that I am the Chesapeake Ripper." Gideon all but demanded.
"Seems that is what you need to do." Hannibal said coolly, making Gideon shrink back further into his cell.
"Certainly what someone needs." Will said as they took their leave of Gideon, having heard more than enough.
"It would appear Gideon has bitten off more than he can chew." Hannibal said.
"Funny that. I was about to say the same thing about Chilton."