When it became obvious he wasn't going to hear anything else important and Alfred took Ivan to his room, Matthew gave up on eavesdropping. He'd heard enough and as worrisome as it was, he didn't want to spend all night thinking about it. It wasn't an actual problem until his brother and everyone he'd roped in were on the streets. Hopefully, Matthew would have a chance another day to get more information. Until then he could come up with plans and countermeasures tomorrow.
Now, he just wanted to enjoy tonight, especially since it seemed that it could be his last night without paranoia. The last night before the media caught on AND before both Alfred and Ivan were on the streets.
So he'd just take as many as he could tonight then adapt to the new rules tomorrow.
It almost felt mechanical how he acted. He had the routine down and confidence did the rest. Of course, he knew better than to act like it was easy, pride would certainly jinx him and the last thing he wanted was to be stopped over a dumb oversight. But with each slash of the blade, he was finding this becoming a comfortable routine.
Matthew would corner or sneak up and take someone by surprise. His steady hand made quick work and then he was on his way to the next victim that crossed paths with him. He was definitely faster than before and he moved with a purpose, enjoying the thrill of stalking the streets of the city.
But as he weaved through the streets it didn't escape his notice that the atmosphere had changed again. Used to observing over participating, Matthew was able to notice more police cars around and on the streets. They were easy enough to avoid without detection, he certainly couldn't run the risk of catching their suspicion when he had bloody rags in his pocket from wiping his blade so many times. Running a DNA test on that would certainly implicate him, to say the least.
Matthew wasn't surprised there was an increase in surveillance. With the bodies found from the previous night, whether they believed it was the Trail Killer or someone else so inspired, murder was murder and they were probably worried about the worsening state of the city. As they should be. The thrill of the city coming undone despite their best precautions urged him on more than it should've.
He was interested to see if Alfred, stupid enough to go out even with an alibi, would be picked up by the increased surveillance. After tonight, all eyes will be on the streets and wannabe vigilantes might not get off with only a slap on the wrist.
Oh yeah, Matthew would have to follow Alfred closely. His brother's efforts would certainly be entertaining.
Matthew surprised himself when he made it back home and it was the early hours of the morning. He supposed he might've got carried away, but with each addition to his growing number of kills he yearned for more, to push it further and really make an impact.
A couple of times throughout the night, he heard sirens in the distance and the screeching of car tyres as what sounded like a convoy closed in on an area he previously 'visited'. That had only spurred him on to run further away and add more to his total.
Of course, he kept his sensibilities and always kept himself at a distance. It was just as easy to leave evidence as it was to not. It was just a matter of being aware. He knew how frustrated investigators would be and after tonight, police would be scrambling.
He had killed 13. His highest count yet. Matthew could only reason that he was worried he wouldn't have an opportunity to later because why else would he spend all night hunting human lives?
The answer was for fun. The rush of one led to another and he wanted to see how big he could take this. The violent act brought him the power he never had and the reputation that came with that felt like well-deserved respect.
Worst of all, despite being up all night he wasn't even tired. He just found himself wishing time would move by faster so he could see the reactions sooner.
When the police find out. When the media report it. When fear creeps into the city. When Alfred sees... and realises a hero can't save the day.
Matthew lay in bed with his eyes closed for a long time, trying to force himself to sleep and skip to the morning.
When Matthew awoke at breakfast he was exhausted. As nice as it was to lay in bed now that his efforts had caught up to him, he couldn't shut his eyes once he thought about the news and scrambled for his phone.
Nothing. It seemed impossible. Surely there would be something, even if misdirected or misunderstood. But there was nothing. The top headlines were a world record being broken and some feel-good a story about a small business starting a program to help the homeless. It almost seemed foreign to have positive stories on the news. Clearly, he'd gone overboard these past few days and police were being extra thorough with their examinations. Matthew supposed that made sense, the police would really hate to admit the Trail Killer had escalated and they were probably hoping for something else, anything else as an explanation. But even at face value, there was no other explanation and an experienced cop could see that. Which was likely why the media was silent for the time being.
But to be honest it was driving him a little crazy. He didn't like being ignored. But the conspiracies online kept him sane and he knew the uproar the internet would create when the confirmation finally happened would be enough to fuel him for years.
It was almost lunch when Alfred woke up and Matthew assumed his brother didn't know he was home because Alfred played music loudly and didn't try to keep the noise down as he made himself 'breakfast'. Assumed, because maybe Alfred would do that anyway. He was densely inconsiderate.
Matthew couldn't be bothered to leave his room and tell Alfred to keep it down because that might start an unnecessary confrontation. Besides, Matthew was preoccupied with something more entertaining and something that let everything else fade into the background.
His newspaper collection fit in his drawer now, but with many more additions to come, he really thought he should do something about it. He sat cross-legged on the floor with the blade in hand as he cut out all the relevant articles and binned the excess paper. Looking over his past kills was invigorating and he couldn't wait until his drawer was filled with clippings from his growing career.
It took him a moment to realise that the sudden change in music from the other room was not a new song, but rather a ringtone. Alfred answered loudly as he continued to make breakfast and it became immediately obvious to Matthew that he put his phone on speaker. How incredibly convenient.
"Wassup?" Alfred answered.
"Not much! Things have been pretty dull since yesterday."
"That's good, right? Is Antonio okay? He's doing alright isn't he?"
"Of course he's doing alright! More than alright because he's with me and I'm awesome! You just said to call you and let you know whatever so there's your update!"
Oh, this must be Gilbert. Matthew quietly shut the newspaper drawer as he listened in.
"Hell yeah, glad to hear. I'm so glad he's got you."
"I bet he's glad he's got me too!"
Matthew cringed at the self-inflated ego.
"I hope he's gonna be alright for our meeting tonight," Alfred sighed. "What's he up to now?"
Meeting tonight? There was Matthew's chance to get information. But he didn't know how the meeting was going to happen. He doubted it would be over the phone so he wouldn't be able to eavesdrop.
From the phrasing of a meeting, he had a feeling it would be in person... Alfred would go somewhere and Matthew would track where. But how would he get the details of the meeting?
"Still sleeping," Gilbert said. "-Oh yeah, when are you gonna speak to Ivan?"
"Uh," Alfred sounded guilty. "I already have, I just forgot to tell you. Hacker voice; he's in!"
"Booo, if we're gonna be a team you have to tell me everything! That's not awesome."
"Yeah, sorry, I was just tired last night is all."
"I guess I'll let it slide this time then," Gilbert declared. "Yesterday was a big fucking deal, right? For everyone. Even Ludwig. Ever since he's got that promotion I think he only gets like, 5 hours of sleep. Tops. I don't know how he can stay awesome like that."
"Sheesh that's rough buddy. What the fuck is he even doing? Wait, does he have to patrol all night? Ugh, just another way that bastard's fucked with us."
"Yeah, he does some shit at night and also during the whole day. I don't know what his schedule looks like but don't worry, I have an awesome plan to get my hands on it." Gilbert laughed chaotically.
"Hell yeah, I know I can count on you," Alfred encouraged.
"Pfft, of course. Being the big bro of the best cop in this city has its awesome perks. I bet I can get heaps of useful info from him."
Matthew would have to get any information Gilbert passed to Alfred from his brother. It shouldn't be too hard. He could play the concerned card, say that he didn't like Alfred going out but if Alfred told him things he'd feel more comfortable. Or he could just continue sneaking because did he really believe Alfred would tell him everything and not water it down?
He'd have to figure out how to play it once he knew Alfred had information.
"Yeah, I bet you can. Do you have anything new?"
"I don't know. I think there's something I can get from him before tonight's meeting. I kinda feel like an asshole for doing it but then I just tell myself I'll be a double awesome brother to make up for it!"
If Matthew couldn't get the information at the meeting he'd have to try and get it after. Besides, while they were all having their meeting... he knew where they were. They were off the streets so tonight might be the last night in a while he can roam freely.
"He's been more stressed these past couple of days. I think something's happened. Something that's being kept a secret for some reason. It could just be regular stress since he's now also doing that psychology stuff and making a killer profile- I'm still trying to get my hands on that, don't worry-"
"I know you can do it," Alfred was definitely throwing fuel onto a fire. But what Gilbert had said definitely caught Matthew's attention. He didn't know what a 'killer profile' was but he knew he wanted to see it.
"Thank fuck Ludwig was assigned leader of the Trail Killer case," Alfred continued. "If that was my brother I'd be so proud."
Matthew felt bitter.
"You know it. But something's definitely happened. It can't be stress cus he's been overworking himself for a while now but the other day he came home and he looked terrible. I don't know what it was, it's an older bro's instincts, you know what I mean?"
"Yeah I gotcha," Alfred laughed sheepishly. "Now I kinda feel bad because if he knew what we were doing he'd be so disappointed."
"No big deal," Gilbert said dismissively. "We just don't let him know!"