Page 13 of Cat and Mouse

"We need to get back to the station," I say, my voice steely with resolve. "There's a lot of work to be done."

The ride back is silent, each of us lost in our thoughts. The city whizzes by, a blur of lights and shadows. I replay the scene in my mind, looking for missed clues, hidden meanings.

Back at the station, I spread out the new evidence alongside the old files. Amy Carson, the other victims, and now Frank Roselli. The connections are there, I just need to find them.

I dive into the reports, checking and rechecking if there was something I might have missed.

Mike and Matteo join me, their presence a steady anchor.

"What's the plan?" Mike asks, leaning over my shoulder.

"We dig deeper," I reply, my eyes scanning the pages. "There's something we're missing."

The night wears on, the station quiet except for the hum of our work. Coffee cups pile up, evidence bags multiply. But we push through, driven by the need for answers.

Finally, I hit a breakthrough.

"Guys, look at this." I point to a pattern in the tox reports. "All the victims had traces of the same drug in their system. Cocaine."

Mike leans in, squinting at the reports. "Wait, what? All of them?"

"Yeah, but it's not obvious at first glance. The traces were barely detectable—negligible, really. It was easy to overlookunless you were specifically looking for it." I pull up the first victim's report on my tablet. "The first victim had meth as the primary substance, but there were traces of cocaine, too. It's like a fingerprint."

Matteo nods slowly, processing the information. "So, what does this mean? A connection between the victims?"

"It could be," I say. "It's definitely worth investigating further. Maybe the drug was a secondary factor in their deaths or a clue about the killer's pattern. We need to dig deeper into their backgrounds, their connections, find out if they were exposed to the same sources of cocaine or had similar drug-related associations."

Mike taps his pen on the table, thinking. "We'll need to get more details on their drug habits, any common places they might have frequented. This could lead us to the source."

I nod, feeling a spark of hope. "Exactly. Let's track down any connections. I'm betting this isn't a coincidence. The Phantom isn't just a serial killer. He's involved in something bigger. A drug ring, maybe."

Matteo leans in, studying the files. "We need to get an undercover in there, find out what's really going on."

"Agreed," I say, my mind already racing with how we can do it. "We'll brief the captain in the morning."

The fatigue is starting to hit, but I can't stop now. The faces of the victims flash in my mind, their pleas for justice echoing in my ears.

I grab the file on Amy Carson, flipping through her details again. Her life, her dreams, all cut short. I owe it to her, to all of them, to see this through.

As dawn breaks, we're still at it, piecing together the tangled web of the Phantom's crimes. But now we have a direction, a purpose.

I stand, stretching out the kinks in my back. "Good work, team. Let's call it a night and regroup in a few hours."

Mike and Matteo nod, gathering their things. "We'll crack this, Kane," Mike says, a determined glint in his eye.

I nod, exhaustion mingling with hope. "We will. One way or another, we'll bring him down."

As I head home, the city waking up around me, I can't shake the image of those blue eyes from my mind. He's out there, watching, waiting. But so am I.

Chapter 4 - Leo

I'm lining up my shot, feeling the buzz from the whiskey and the caddy's flirtatious smile, when I spot Matteo approaching. He's young and eager and trying his best to fit in. I straighten up and grin.

"Matteo!" I say, pulling him into a hug. "Ciao, cugino."

"Ciao,Leonardo," he replies, his voice steady. I can see the nervousness in his eyes, though. He's got something important.

"Do you have what I asked for?" I ask, cutting to the chase.

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