Authoress Note: Welcome to Chapter 40 of Messed Up World. Thank you to those who have left reviews for this story. It really does mean a lot to me that you guys are enjoying this story. I am trying my best with writing this story. I know that there is still a lot to cover in this story. I can't wait to show you guys what happens in this chapter. We are now halfway through Episode 8.Also a double update this week. I hope you enjoy it. Without further ado Chapter 40. ENJOY!

Chapter 40

Will walked with Margarita with two local Baltimore police officers as they approached the front doors. The bell above the door rang as Will, Margarita, entered with the two police officers following them inside of Chordophone String Shop.

Tobias came out escorting a pre-teen cello player out from the parlor behind the store front.

"I'm Special Agent Will Graham and this is Special Agent Tamosaitis with the FBI. Are you the owner here?"

"Yes, Tobias Budge. I'm just showing one of my students out. Can you give me a moment?"

Will nodded his head.

Tobias guided the pre-teen towards the door. "JSB's Suite #1 for Saturday." He said to the teenager.

"Okay." The teen looked over his shoulder before exiting.

Tobias turned back to Will, Margarita and the two police officers. "What can I help you with?"

Margarita gripped her hands inside of her jacket. She knew he recognized her from the night before when he was at their home.

"We're investigating the death of Douglas Wilson. He was a -" Will began only to be cut off by Tobias.

"The Trombonist."

"Did you know him?"

"I was aware of him. Baltimore's a small town and its cultural arts community is even smaller." Tobias said as he adjusted the display cello, loosening the balance rod.

"That's why we're here, Mr. Budge."

"I heard someone cut his throat and tried to play it with a bow."

"Why do you say try?"

"Strings have to be treated. You can't just open somebody up and run a bow across their innards and expect to produce a sound."

"The vocal chords were chemically treated, similar to how catgut strings are treated. We kept those details out of the press."

Margarita looked over at Will seeing that he was having a tough time. She wondered if what Will was saying was starting to affect him while he was out on a case.

"Looking for someone who knows how to manufacture gut strings?"

"Anyone leap to mind?"

Tobias hands Will a bundle of catgut strings, but he doesn't take his eyes off of Tobias. Tobias began to sense his suspicion. "Mine are imported from Italy. Best catgut is. The String section of the Baltimore Metropolitan Orchestra refuses to play anything else."

"More authentic."

"A richer, darker sound. Allows music to say what words can't."

Will jumped when he heard something.

Margarita looked at Will slightly concerned, wondering if there was something deeply wrong with Will. She carefully put her hand on his shoulder hoping that would calm him some.

"Something wrong?" Tobias questioned as his brow raised looking at Will.

"Sounded like a dog got hit by a car. You didn't hear it?" Will asked Stewart.

"I didn't hear anything." Officer Stewart said.

Tobias and the other officer shook their heads.

Margarita shook her head lightly knowing that she didn't hear anything either.

"Excuse me a minute."

Tobias strummed the strings of the cello he just straightened as he watched Will cross to the door and exit.

Margarita quickly followed Will to watch him step out of the shop and down onto the walkway. Her brows furrowed in concern as she watched him searching the street for any sign of a commotion or wounded animal. She watched a pedestrian eyeing Will but kept on walking.

Will shook out two aspirin into his hand and tossed them back swallowing hard. He rubbed his forehead and squinted at the snow, concerned.

"Will." Margarita said, finally causing the young man's head to snap up towards her.

Will finally trudged back up to where she was. He entered the building once again with her and was quick to apologize for what had happened. "Sorry about that. I -"

Margarita looked around the empty store.

Will approached the counter and paused. "Officers. Officers." Will simultaneously retrieved his weapon and his phone. He dialed a number that he knew well. "I need ERT at Chordophone Strings downtown Baltimore. Officers down." He said as he stepped behind the counter and slipped into a private room that was used for lessons.

Margarita slowly got her weapon and gripped it lightly in her hands, being very careful and slow as she moved.

Will found Officer Stewart tumbled over the piano bench, a cello rod jammed under his neck through the top of his head. Will slowly headed towards the obscured staircase. He put his gun out in front of him, moving down into the darkness of the stairs.

Margarita slowly followed, pursing her lips together into a thin line, knowing that this was very dangerous.

Will hugged the wall, waiting until his eyes adjusted to the dim light of a single light bulb. But the smell told him before his eyes could verify what his brain already knew. This was where Tobias made his own catgut strings. He approached cautiously towards the opaque curtain that was hanging from the ceiling in the corner of the basement only to slip almost causing him to fall. He glanced down to see what he stepped on, it was the other officer's badge in a pool of blood.

Will threw back the curtain and found Officer Dormau on his knees, dangling forward, supported by a series of razor sharp wire strings, cutting deep into his face and neck. The sound that they had heard was his intact hand swinging rubbing against the floor. Will didn't allow himself to be distracted long, turning and scanning the area for Tobias.

Suddenly a blur of movement out of the corner of Will's eye, Tobias looped a multi-wired weapon over Will's head.

Will raised an arm defensively over his face and throat, but the strings cut into him regardless.

Margarita raised her gun once again as Will raised his gun. She fired her gun hitting the wall when Will fired his gun next to Tobias's ear blowing it off.

Tobias clutched his own bloody ear as Will raised his gun weakly to fire again, but Tobias was already on the move.

Will fired his gun only to blow a hole into the wall.

Margarita rushed over to Will and helped him up to his feet. She felt his body shaking as he was dealing with the gun going off near his ear. She looked over her shoulder. "The police and ambulances are on their way."

Will looked up at her to make sure that she was alright. "Are you alright?" He asked softly a thick lump formed in his throat rather concerned that she could have been hurt by Tobias.

"I'm fine Will." She told him softly.

"I don't think Dr. Lecter would forgive me if I let something happen to you."

"Hannibal knows I can take care of myself."

HANNIBAL

Franklyn was busy counting on his fingers how many therapists he had. He had counted to nine. "Nine times. I can count on two hands the number of times I've been dumped by a psychiatrist."

Hannibal looked up at Franklyn. "I'm sorry, Franklyn, I think it's best if you see another doctor."

"You're giving me a referral."

"Yes." Hannibal said with a nod of his head.

"You were a referral."

"I'm also part of the problem. You focus too much on your therapist and not enough on your therapy."

"You lost respect for me because I wouldn't report Tobias, didn't you?"

"Report Tobias for what?" Tobias's voice rang out.

Franklyn was surprised to see Tobias standing in the doorway of the patient entrance, Hannibal was less so surprised.

Tobias wore a hat and jacket to obscure his bloody hands and clothes.

"Tobias...?"

Hannibal stood up slowly as Tobias moved into the room.

"I came to say goodbye, Franklyn."

Franklyn looked on in shock seeing Tobias with blood on him. "What do you mean goodbye? Oh My God. Is that your blood?"

"I just killed two people. The FBI came to question me about the murder."

Hannibal blinked a few times. He felt his heart clench a little bit knowing his wife went with Will. Could he have murdered Will and his wife?

"You have to turn yourself in. This plane is going down. Let it be a controlled descent. You can get back up in the air again. There is rehabilitation for everyone." Franklyn said, trying to talk to his friend into turning himself in. He kept his voice calm as he kept his hands raised letting Tobias know he wasn't a harm to him.

"Franklyn, I want you to leave now." Hannibal said, looking over at Franklyn.

Tobias's eyes slid over to Franklyn. "Stay right where you are, Franklyn."

Franklyn stepped forward trying to calm his friend. "You've done something horrible and I know you wish to god you didn't, but you did and there's nothing you can do to change that. Only thing you can change is your future. You're probably scared. Probably feel like you're all alone."

"I'm not alone." Tobias said firmly.

"That's right. You're not alone. Nothing has happened in our friendship that you and I can't recover from."

Hannibal had enough snapping Franklyn's neck, dropping him to the ground like a big old cinder block. He turned his attention to Tobias, his hands gripping at his sides tightly not liking the idea that his wife could have been murdered by Tobias when they were expecting a child.

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This is the end of Chapter 40. I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. I tried my best with trying to write this out. I've decided to add the scene in with Franklyn, Tobias, and Hannibal since Hannibal thinks his wife and Will are both gone. Hopefully it makes sense of why I did that. Please leave a review and let me know what you think. Reviews actually help me keep going in writing. I will try to update next Friday. I am going to try to make sure that I keep to the schedule that I have planned out for my updates. Until next time.