After so much scrolling, Matthew couldn't keep his eyes burning anymore and reluctantly put the phone down as he scrubbed at his face. That only made it worse as it felt like strings of spicy cobwebs were strung between his eyes and the haze of his screen was burnt into his retinas. So to have a break from the internet's reaction, Matthew decided that he might as well go out. He was sure the household needed some things and what better place to go shopping than the store he sent Ludwig crashing into? Shopping would certainly give him a reason to be there and give him a cover to be nosy.
It was a nice day to walk and Matthew had to stifle the bounce in his step. He doubted the memorial wouldn't even be mapped out yet but there was no way everything was cleaned up from last night. He wanted to see the aftermath. He also doubted the police would shut down the whole store so he would have a chance to grab a newspaper from there, the actual site... somehow that made it feel more special.
During the walk, he could see everything he needed to gather just how people felt from the breaking news. He could tell there was a lingering worry seeping into the people of the city, a worry that was validated by no shortage of media coverage. Nearly everyone was on their phones as they walked around and from brief stolen glances, Matthew could see exactly what had their attention.
It was all him. It filled him with pride. He did this and people had noticed. They couldn't not notice.
Of course, there were a few outlier reactions, unsurprisingly some of the people his age and younger were taking the whole thing in stride, completely out of touch with the situation. It was people like that who Matthew imagined kept up the hype online because living through an event like this was just cool to them. Matthew couldn't blame them for their attitude. Though others did and sent them foul looks for talking about it without sensitivity in public.
But those who were amazed they were right. This was cool. That's why Matthew loved seeing the reception online. This was a defining moment for the city and will definitely be remembered for decades to come. If anything it made him stand taller and feel more accomplished. He was living through a defining moment. Matthew, the 'Trail Killer', would be recorded in history.
The parking lot of the store was a complete mess, the scene was overwhelmingly clustered instead of cleared out. Which was preferable of course because Matthew would really be disappointed if everything was just scraped clean the next day. He supposed it meant the police were being thorough. Matthew just hoped he was more thorough.
There were giant partitions so he didn't know if Ludwig's cruiser was still there and Matthew definitely wasn't going to ask any of the many officials standing around. Police and other government cars were everywhere and there was tape and signs wherever he looked. The parking lot had been converted into a maze with all sorts of crime scene decorations tracking every movement the car took as it rolled in. Cones and signs marked every inch of tyre print and speck of shattered glass from the tall storefront windows.
Some officers were leaning on the wall by the store door with heavy bags under their eyes as they drank heavy-duty coffee drinks likely purchased inside. They must be on call because every now and then their radios buzzed with codes and a flurry of words but they ignored it all. Matthew wondered if they had been active last night when all the action took place or if they had woken up to it.
Fortunately, the store was still open, even if there were more people outside staring with their phones pointed at the activity rather than shop.
Inside the store, all he could hear amongst the chatter was about last night, the curfew, or the scene outside. All him.
"I'm an introvert so it won't even affect me," someone said while browsing. "I stay inside anyway."
"I just hope it'll be enough," another voice replied.
Matthew grabbed a basket and filled it with some items. If he only walked out with a newspaper, that could look suspicious. Well, it wouldn't look suspicious on its own, plenty of people did that. But Matthew was quite aware of the large police presence outside and he didn't get this far being careless.
"Oh, I heard sirens all night. But they were only in the background until I heard one right by my window! Did I tell you that someone got slashed right by my apartment? I got out of bed when I heard shit happening in the alley under my window and it was the police and some dead guy." Someone said into their phone, sounding both excited and scared. "I thought it was just a gang shooting or something at first cus I swear I heard a gun but now I think it might've been the Trail Killer."
The newspaper stand was near the line to pay and Matthew could hear a tired cashier speaking with a customer, an annoying one by the sounds of it.
"-if it's okay to ask?"
"It's fine, sure, it was on the news-"
"Well, I don't like being dependent on technology, unlike your generation-" the customer went off on a tirade that Matthew tuned out, feeling sorry for the cashier who couldn't.
He considered himself lucky there were still newspapers to buy and picked one off the nearly empty pile but stopped as his fingers touched the headline.
He was reminded of the profile. Ludwig said the killer would keep a written record... and Matthew found himself surprised by how well the officer had him pinned.
"-so that's all I know but I really don't know much."
Oh, Matthew had been distracted and missed the cashier's run down of last night's events. Not that it mattered, it wasn't anything he didn't know anyway.
"But do you know anything else?" The next customer in line butted in.
"No, the police can't say anything to us because it's 'confidential' so I really don't know more than you do or could do if you googled it. All they did was take the footage from us but that doesn't tell us anything so buy a newspaper if you're really interested. I think there's some left if not we actually ordered some more to come in this evening."
He knew they wouldn't find anything from the footage. Matthew wasn't anywhere near the store so all it would show was the car rolling in and nothing else. It was a good thing he made sure Ludwig was dead otherwise maybe he could've signaled to the cameras somehow, but since that didn't happen the film would be boring to watch. Clearly, the police were desperate if they were looking for anything.
The customer was still bugging the cashier about the issue and Matthew really did feel sorry. That used to be his job - placating people he couldn't tell to leave him alone.
He turned back to the newspaper stand. Matthew wanted a paper, so he'd take a paper. Good thing Ludwig was no more.
There were a few different papers from different printing companies, all with the Trail Killer on the front cover with attention-grabbing headlines of all the important events that transpired in the past 24 hours.
Chief of police condemns 'maniac' killer
Serial killer leaves behind Trail of destruction
Combat curfew to counteract 'cowardly' killer
Superhero cop slaughtered in 'unnecessary attack'
Explosive escalation of cruelty to 'horrific scale' by 'barbaric criminal'
The tragedy that will 'plague this city for years to come'
Police Chief calls Trail Killer case 'top priority'
Matthew settled on the newspaper that felt the thickest. As long as it had the story then it didn't matter which paper he picked up.
He really should throw his paper stash out to completely minimize loose ends, but he doubted it would matter. There was no other evidence against him. Matthew could say he hoarded the newspapers for any other reason that could pass as normal or acceptable and they couldn't prove otherwise. It would simply be circumstantial evidence and if anyone wanted to prove who he was and what he was capable of, they'd need something with more merit. And if they had anything with actual merit, then that would be all they needed and the newspapers wouldn't mean a thing.
So he bought the paper along with the rest of his basket and stepped back outside. The officers were still standing by the door, one leaning back on the wall with eyes shut as if trying to catch up on rest.
It was definitely best not to approach or interact with any of the law enforcement. Not when Ludwig said the killer would try to inject himself into the investigation.
Matthew walked home biting the inside of his cheek to stop himself from smiling.
When he got home it was simple to take out the relevant articles. Instead of cutting up the newspaper, all he had to do was remove the many many pages that held countless articles about everything to do with last night. Well, nearly everything. He did notice a few interesting exceptions.
Matthew sat on his bedroom floor as he read through Ludwig's grand history with police work up until his murder and another tribute eulogy singing his praises. The next page had the investigation into his death and the scene of the crime. The planned memorial. No mention of the stolen gun or radio... interesting. Matthew hadn't seen that mentioned anywhere and was likely being kept hush-hush by the police. Either from shame, worry of public response or just to keep something private between them and the killer. Possibly all three but the police had the excuse of keeping that detail private to identify the killer later. Convenient. Really convenient. Too bad he was satisfied otherwise he might be inspired to go after the police for revenge because of every single choice they made that could make them look bad was immediately covered up.
Matthew kept reading through the pages, about more victims before finally the show-stopping finale, the explosion. Witness accounts of the fireball. Investigation of the scene. The Chief's announcement, his distaste for the murderer and his promises of justice. The curfew. Police from other states lending their best. The prioritisation of the investigation.
Matthew read through them with sinister interest before tucking those pages away into his collection and binning the scraps.
It was interesting how the police somehow dodged having to take responsibility. Maybe it was because of the massive distraction available. Something Matthew had given them, but also only something he could do because of the opportunity they gave him by not taking him seriously.
Well now all eyes were on the police and if they slipped up again, maybe this time the public would notice and they wouldn't get away with it.
Matthew took his phone and navigated deep into the park until he came across where he hid the radio. He pulled it from its hiding place and turned it on as he made himself comfortable to scroll on his phone.
There was still traffic on the radio, though most of it was codes and unhurried tones, nothing like last night. There was some talk about the crime scenes he had created and he paused to listen in to hear officers from the soon-to-be memorial site and the explosion ground zero since that's where most of the action was. Occasionally there was talk about individual victim's scenes, but it was mostly officers just noting that the work was done there and for cleanup crews to be ushered in. Matthew had to admit, their speed was impressive and a testament to how hard they worked.
Matthew took note of everything he heard. Any information could become useful later. But he was primarily focused on his phone and discussions about the Trail Killer online. And one of the best place for active discussions was the subreddit dedicated to him. It had grown exponentially in the past day and Matthew couldn't be prouder.
does anyone know the trail killer's official kill count I cant find it online anywhere
-It'll probably say on the memorial, unless there are additional victims since
-There'll defo be more
-IDK why the police haven't told us which is weird because they keep talking about how bad he is. You'd think they'd want us to know
-what if there's more they don't know about?
-Maybe theres heaps so they dont wanna tell everyone cus ppl will panic and put pressure on police
(142 comments)
Why aren't there more serial killers nowadays? I thought this only happened in the 80's
-Probably because mass murder is the new fad because it's easier to do
-This^^
-maybe theyre just better at hiding now
-prolly why this guy's so big cus he lets the police find his victims. imagine if he didn't... we wouldn't even know
-Homicide has actually gone down since the 80s but missing persons have gone exponentially up so make with that what you will
-Correlation doesn't equal causation but I guess that's one take away from that
-dna evidence ruined everything lol
-ikr? Now I gotta find a new hobby
-jk?
-Cus everyone was doped up on lead back then prolly
-That's actually considered a big factor cus suddenly there were thousands active in the 80s when there weren't that many before and there were more serial killers in specific areas of the country instead of an even ratio
-most victims were gays or prostitutes so no one cared about them then so nobody knew if they disappeared
-Cops sucked back then just as much as they suck now but they just don't suck when it comes to murder just everything else acab
(173 comments)
Friendly reminder not to compare this guy to any of the other big serial killer names because that's disrespectful to the family's of victims left behind
-Then stay off this forum?
-*Families
-You can't control what other people do on the internet so don't bother
-Are you stupid? This guy IS a big name now because look at the shit he did. When he's caught everyone will remember his name because of the level of carnage he achieved, not to mention public interest will keep him relevant for a long time
-exactly this
-yep everyone in the city knows about it while he's active instead of just after he's caught so the media will drag this out for as long as possible and this guy will get lots of screen time
-I remember there was a segment literally every night about the trial killer until it stopped for some reason and then last night happened. I was too optimistic to think the trail killer had either stopped or been caught but no one said anything because maybe the police didn't want to have people idolise him for whatever reason
-shit I remember that too I guess he wasn't active then?
(201 comments)
I would've thought that it was impossible to be a serial killer in the 21st century
-Nah, check this from the atlantic about modern serial killers about the rate of murder cases solved. In 1965, the U.S. homicide clearance rate was 91 percent. By 2017, it had dropped to 61.6 percent, one of the lowest rates in the Western world. In other words, about 40 percent of the time, murderers get away with murder. Seems that cops are just lazy or sum
-I thought so too because there are cameras everywhere now but they haven't even got one grainy picture?
-yeah where's the shitty bank footage ahhh videos flooding every platform?
-Probably too much meme potential to be worth it cus no one takes shit seriously anymore lol
Do any amateur profilers have anything new after what happened?
-I keep arguing with my partner if the killer's gonna adhere to the curfew or not so I could use a second opinion
-I really don't know but I have a feeling the trail killer won't like it and might blow up another service station... or worse
-fuck Im gonna be so paranoid refilling from now on
-And it's not even safer to walk lmao
-It is if it's day and there's people around
-Looks like an escalation, like how he moved on from the park to the city. Since there's no signs of sexual or normal abuse to the bodies I think it's for the thrill. At first I thought it wasn't about power/control because he doesn't control the environment by doing it somewhere private like in his own home or the victim's home. But I think it's actually a power move against society. Killers get something out of this and want to relive the thrill which can be done by just turning on the TV or scrolling this forum. The appeal for the guy has to be the reaction. He probably will break the curfew because that would get a reaction and the media would give nonstop coverage so the guy can relive all he wants
-So the police should stfu then?
-Maybe, it could make him worse if he doesn't get his fix. But if he gets worse he'll get sloppy so at least they'll catch him
(193 comments)
Poll: Is the killer sexy or ugly af?
-if he's ugly he better hope he don't get caught or he's gonna be roasted so hard
-Fuck I hope he is he'll become a meme legend fr
-For some reason there's never any in between with these motherfuckers. It's either they're drop dead gorgeous and people simp for them and don't think they deserve jail or they're ugly and people aren't surprised
-There needs to be a study done on people who thirst for these guys because something in their brain is underdeveloped
(133 comments)
Man I really wish the Trail Killer was some kind of vigilante like Dexter because how cool would that be
-welcome to reality ig
-bruh
-I want a refund
-I wish he took requests
-lmao same I've got one name on this short list and its just me
-valid
-don't be like that! don't you want the people who made you feel that way to pay first?
-nah Im tired take me out
-If he was do you think the police would tell us? Probably not because we'd side with him. Society is so unbearable nowdays and it's probably just someone like the Joker with Joaquin Phoenix
-tbf who hasn't felt like snapping after a bad day shit sucks so bad and we really do live in a society
-It would be really cool. Life's already so bizarre let's just throw a vigilante serial killer into the mix
-someone should make a trail killer bingo card
(185 comments)
New posts were flooding in by the minute yet Matthew was somehow able to read each and every one of them. But that forum wasn't the only place to get his fix, he cycled through other platforms for other opinions and just couldn't stop.
The only thing that made him stop was when the radio caught his attention. He listened and realised they were talking about the service station.
"-wreckage has been combed through and we've finally bagged all the evidence. We're just waiting on cleanup."
"Roger that."
"Well done, you guys move fast."
"It's been over 24 hours and we've got teams of other states so it's not that impressive."
"What'll be impressive is being able to sleep for 36 hours after this."
"Don't get your hopes up."
"Can you clear the frequency if you don't have anything urgent to say? Thank you," a new voice chirped.
"Look, I'm tired and I was supposed to clock off yesterday afternoon so hearing you nag about being professional is getting on my nerves. It's passive-aggressive and it's annoying how you assume we're all doing it to spite you." A gruff voice snapped.
"If you can't deal with the constant and necessary chatter as we deal with a crisis, then just turn off your radio because I find it hard to believe that you don't have something to deal with that's more urgent than policing your coworkers," Voiced another.
"I don't see how it's necessary-" The chirpy voice scoffed.
"Maybe not for the work, but certainly for our mental health! Cops are human too and this is all taking a toll on us. I don't know where the fuck you are but I've been pulling out crispy body parts all day and it's going to ruin KFC for me so just shut it. If you wanna pretend you're the bigger person just turn off your fucking radio-"
"Hey, arguing isn't productive so how about everyone turns off their radio and steps away for a breather? No one would blame you if you left your work-" Someone new tried to meditate.
"And what? Drag it out longer and get home later? Fuck off." The gruff voice snapped.
"Guys, I know we're all stressed and don't really mean any of this-"
"Damn right we are stressed-"
'Oi," A new voice interjected and listed some codes. "I will have to insist that chatter is kept to a minimum. Just because this has turned into a big mess doesn't mean our professionalism has to falter too."
"God you sound so much like Beilschmidt right now..."
A moment of silence sounded loud when heard through the radio.
"Anyway, I also insist that after everyone clocks off, contact the department's mental health resources."
"Yeah, no shit."
"But until further notice keep the chatter for your partners on the field. Due to the codes in effect, these airways need to be clear and cleaner than an addict trying to get visitation, got it?"
"But why now?"
"Yeah if we were gonna get booted off it should've been last night."
"Shit- It's cus we didn't find the radio, right?"
"Fuck- are you serious?"
"Wait, you mean it wasn't at the explosion?!"
"No, we just finished and-"
"Remember the code. Keep discussions to a minimum. We don't know who could be listening in."
"Fuck, no way-"
"As if the killer is actually listening in right now-"
"It's a possibility but we don't know for sure. Now everyone, keep it to a minimum."
"Shit! He could though cus remember Beilschmidt's profile-"
"Exactly so don't give out any information."
"Roger that."
"Fuuuuck, got it."
"Is this going to be brought up in a debriefing because surely sudden silence would be suspicious?"
"Well if this fucker's never had a police radio before, then how would he know what's normal? Maybe we're just this professional every time."
"Save your thoughts for the debriefing, got it?"
"Our hands are tied until the Chief can make a call about this so it's all touch and go for now."
"Yes, got it."
Matthew stared at the now silent radio. Of course they would come to that conclusion, it was only logical. He didn't feel threatened. He could always dump the radio at any time... but why would he do that if he didn't have a reason? If anything, he was interested in what the police would do now that they knew that he had the radio, or at least heavily speculated. The ball was in their court now.
Matthew just turned back to his phone, now looking through location community groups for any details. The radio still occasionally made noise but it wasn't like before. Now it really was the bare minimum and completely sanitary professionalism that bored him because he didn't understand any of the codes used. He wasn't going to Google cops code now when the police would have an eye out for anyone with a sudden interest in understanding police lingo. Matthew knew that anything suspicious that was searched online would be monitored, that was just the day and age they lived in.
Well, anything telling would stick out to someone monitoring searches. Matthew was safe to browse discussions about the Trail Killer because that's what half the city was doing anyway. He wouldn't stand out for showing an interest in that now. So he kept scrolling and digging through everything he could find.
When his phone suddenly made the telling noise of having received a notification Matthew was pulled out from his obsession and realized that hours had passed. He was just so caught up in all the attention he didn't realise the time. Yeah, he knew the attention-seeking online came from being ignored all his life but... even so, it felt so so good to have it now.
Though Matthew did pause when he saw the notification was a text, which could only be from Alfred... He didn't expect to hear from his brother so soon. A smirk tugged at his face as he opened it.
Hopefully, this was going to be good.
Author note
This chapter probably looks better on Ao3 thanks to the Reddit formatting so you can find it there if you prefer
ALSO! I'm honoured to have inspired some fanart of this fic!
LightTree on Ao3 / beetroota on tumblr made some cool art
beetroota/755331692113330176/made-some-art-for-a-fanfic-333-the-fanfic-is
hecc44 on Ao3 Also made some cool art!
/p/9N2lHbp