Chapter 11

Agents and officers alike swarm the crime scene, blocking off all views to the public, 'shielding them from such a vicious crime' is what they tell passers-by; though the main reason is to conceal the identity of the killer, as they are too ashamed to admit that it is one of their own. Carter had remained beside the body, mask in his hands, the syringe hidden in his pocket; he made no attempt to hide nor did he resist arrest when he is taken by Lisbon and her team and at the request of her superiors, he had his mask on, covering his face.

The ride back is very quiet; even Jane keeps his lips sealed, Cho accompanies Carter in the back seat, whilst Jane joins Lisbon in the front. Van Pelt and Rigsby return to headquarters with each other in Grace's car.

Cho gazes out of the window, refusing to look at the young officer, unable to understand what brought James Carter, a man who had a promising career ahead of him, to kill. Cho had seen serial killers at work, one in particular immediately springs to mind; they are unruly people that have no conscience, unable to be tamed by simple logic, laws and rules. Yet James Carter's demeanour is all wrong; he is calmly watching the world go by out of the opposite window. He didn't fight back or try to claim his innocence; he wanted to be caught. Whether he thinks that he can weasel his way out of this is unclear, but Cho knows that he will get all the answers back at headquarters.

Back at HQ, the air is silent and the atmosphere is tense. Offices and agents part like the Red Sea when Carter is taken down to interrogation room one, many can't believe it, others give him dirty look; but he walks with his head up, willing to accept that, at this moment, all of them hate him. Only Cho goes into the same room as Carter; Lisbon, Jane, Van Pelt and Rigsby go into the observation room.

James is secured to the table by his handcuffs before Kimble sits down.

"Why are you doing this, Cho?" James asks him, pulling the handcuff chain taut, "I'm not going to run and I'm not going to hurt you."

"Precautions," Cho tells him sourly, "you should know that."

"Yeah, but we only do this with dangerous criminals," realisation dawns on him, "you think that I'm dangerous?"

"You have stabbed three people in the neck with a syringe, what am I supposed to think?"

"Okay, but they deserved it," James reasons, his voice unshaken.

"And why is that?"

"Don't act dumb, I know you know. My motive was simple, those…men," he spits, "they didn't deserve to live, they didn't deserve to be in a relationship with women who would do anything for them."

"That is not your decision to make, Carter," Cho replies, sternly.

"So? If I didn't do something, what would happen to them? They would pay someone off to get away with it. I grew up in a household like that," James yanks the chains to lift up his t shirt, revealing dark pink scars, "this is what my father did to me, he did worse to my mother. And what happened? He got away with it."

"You kill men who remind you of your father," Cho states.

"Yes, sentence me to death if you want to, send me to prison for life," James replies grimly, "I'm a big boy, I've seen similar punishments for people like me."

"James, a confession could stop you receiving the death penalty," Cho pushes a pen and paper towards him, "you tell us why we did this, we can help you."

"I'm not insane," James counters.

"Nobody said you are insane," Cho tells him.

"You don't need to say it, I know that you're thinking that," he picks up the pen and begins to write, "I did this because the men deserved it. I found their names on the database," he narrates as he writes, "then I stalked them for a while, planned each to perfection and lured them into an alley close by. I shoved them up against the wall and stabbed them in the neck with a syringe; which was filled with Black Mamba venom."

He looks up, and Cho catches a glimpse of his humanity, some recognition of what he has done finally sinks in.

"If…if I tell you where my snake is, will you please take care of her?" he asks, tears forming in his eyes, "Don't euthanize her, please."

Cho nods in agreement, "I'll see what I can do."

"Oh, and about the consultant that I kidnapped, I never meant to hurt him, I swear. It was the only way that I could talk to someone and explain what I was doing."

"Okay," Cho replies, knowing that Jane is watching from the next room.

James pushes the paper back over to Cho and leans back in his chair.

"Why did you risk it all Carter? You could have had a good career in the future, put these men in prison for what they did."

"Sometimes you risk it all for something that you are passionate about."

There is a knock at the window, so Cho gets up and leaves interrogation to join the others in the observation room. To his surprise, only Lisbon and Rigsby are there.

"What do you think?" Cho asks.

"We'll get him some psychiatric help, we're not putting him in general population," Lisbon replies, not looking away from Carter.

"Where are Jane and Van Pelt?"

"He wanted to ask her a few questions," Rigsby answers.

"Let's get him down to booking," Lisbon tells them, "then we'll deal with the press."

"How are we going to deal with it?" Rigsby enquires.

"By telling the truth, however ugly it is."