“So you don’t wanna talk, huh?” Detective Moore smirked as he paced back and forth in the cold, damp interrogation room. His mind was moving rapidly, trying to figure out how to wring the information out of this guy. It had already been forty-eight hours since they captured Jacob Ringer and brought him to Quantico, Virginia, and now he was chained to the table right in front of Detective Moore. What am I missing? Detective Moore thought.
                                  **********
Derek Moore was a very dedicated guy. He was dedicated to work and his family, or what was left of it. When he was eight, his mom was diagnosed with Stage 4 Metastatic Brain Cancer. She was never home; instead she was always at the hospital, getting her monthly chemotherapy and radiation. Times were hard, and they became even harder when she lost the battle to cancer and passed away when Derek was eleven.
After his mother’s death, Derek’s father was no help. He became an alcoholic, and was always relying on a drink to make him feel better. So it was left to Derek to take care of his two sisters. Acting as a parent at his age was an unimaginable task. The stress of not only his own life, but also his two sisters’ was a time-consuming and stressful responsibility; yet somehow, he and his sisters made it through the toughest time.
Derek had known since his mother died that he would never treat anybody the way his abusive and drunk father did. That’s why he became a detective, to bring out the good in the world, and beat out the bad.
                                **********
Derek had read through Jacob’s file hundreds of times; he had basically memorized it. He knew that Jacob was part of a serial killing duo, and over the past year, he and his ally had killed twenty middle-aged women between the ages of forty and forty-five. But his ally was yet to be found because there were no clues to give away their identity. When the officers finally captured Jacob at an abandoned warehouse in Louisville, Kentucky, the officers thought he would give up and answer their questions. But Jacob had yet to say a single word, let alone the whereabouts of his ally.
**********
Jacob was a very mysterious person. He had a difficult childhood. After his parents died due to drunk driving when he was three, he had to move in with his aunt, uncle, and his cousin. His uncle was a very kind man, but he was also very quiet. But his aunt was a strict and abusive woman, who hit Jacob everytime he did something she didn’t agree with. Jacob was too scared to tell anybody, and his uncle was too shy and quiet to do anything about it. So his childhood never changed for the better.
Once Jacob turned eighteen, he left the house immediately so he could get away from his abusive aunt. He was always alone in his apartment, either reading or drawing. Something was off about him, but nobody was ever with him enough to realize it…
**********
Detective Moore decided to try something different to get the highly sought-after information. He confidently strode up to the cold, metal table where Jacob was sitting.
         “We found him. You guys are done,” Detective Moore nonchalantly said while he started to pace back and forth.
         Detective Moore glanced at Jacob to see his reaction to the fake news. For a moment, just a moment, Jacob’s eyes flashed with fear and disappointment. But he quickly came to his senses, and went back to being the snarky and sarcastic person he is.
         “You wish you could say that and not be lying,” Jacob responded with a smirk and chuckle.
         Detective Moore was not taken aback by Jacob’s response. He’d gotten so used to his sarcastic remarks, they didn’t faze him anymore. But he had to keep working at it, and get the information he needed.
         “You don’t have any reason to keep this to yourself. Whether you tell us or not, it’s just a difference of time. We will find him. So why be like this? Tell us, and things will only be better.”
         Jacob let out an exaggerated yawn, and slowly opened his eyes to make them meet with Detective Moore’s. “Because if I told you what you wanted to know,” a sly expression filled his face. “What would I have left for myself?”
         Detective Moore stared at him with the coldest stare he could muster.
He kept it for at least thirty full seconds, then without breaking eye contact, said, “Okay then. You’ve made your choice. Now you have to stand behind it.”
         He turned and left the room without looking back at Jacob. But he could feel his eyes bearing into him, never leaving the back of his head.
                               **********
         “Let’s go over this again. Somebody read the file.” Detective Moore was getting frustrated, but he had to keep his cool.
         Officer Pollard stepped out, the file in hand. Officer Pollard was not one of Detective Moore’s good friends, to put it simply. He had long, curly brown hair, was of average height, oddly pale, and had tried to steal Detective Moore’s cases many times before.  “Jacob Ringer, male, age 31, accused and convicted of killing twenty women between the ages of forty and forty-five in the past year. He has an unidentified ally, which is who we are in the process of finding.”
         Officer Pollard stepped back and closed the file.
How did he even get on this case? Everybody knows his true form. Detective Moore wondered while leaning against a filing cabinet.
Suddenly, he snapped back into work-mode. “C’mon people, we’re not getting anywhere by just standing here! Spread ideas!”
         All the officers looked at each other for a moment. Then Officer Ferro confidently stepped out. Officer Ferro had short, wavy, dirty-blonde hair, was strongly built, and was confident in everything she did. Detective Moore secretly had a soft spot for her.
She glanced around the room, as if she was sizing-up her competition, cleared her throat, and said, “Sir, I think we’ve been overlooking something very obvious.”
         Detective Moore had a curious look on his face. What could we be missing? I’ve read this file hundreds of times, I know it by heart. He kept his eyes on Officer Ferro.
“Go on.” He said with interest.
         Officer Ferro took a deep breath and said, “In his file, the only clue we have about his ally is that they have a long history together. It was the only thing Jacob would reveal while he was being interrogated.”
         Detective Moore was now confused and a bit angry. “So? That clue has done nothing to help us. Jacob has no biological brothers or sisters, which is who is ally would be if they had a long history together.”
         “But sir, this is what we’re overlooking! Jacob’s ally doesn’t have to be a sibling just because they have a long-history together. When we went through his personal belongings, he had drawings from when he was a little kid. The drawings almost always had Jacob with ANOTHER figure in them. Another person, a friend. A best friend. We haven’t even considered the fact that his ally could be his childhood best friend!”
         It was silent. Nobody moved, talked, or did anything. They all looked at Detective Moore to see his reaction and what he would say. Detective Moore had a shocked look frozen on his face. He was trying to process it all. How did I never think of this? Is she right? His racing mind wondered. He looked around the room, making eye contact with everybody who was looking to him for a response.
Finally, he took a deep breath and said, “Well done, Officer Ferro. Officers, let’s get moving. I need four of you to come with me to Jacob’s house and investigate those drawings some more. The leftovers, go research and see if you can find any pictures or ANYTHING to help us figure out who his ally is.”
         Everybody moved in a hurry, except Officer Pollard. He kind of drifted around, as if he didn’t know what to do.
Detective Moore gave him a push that sent his flying towards the door, and as he was walking out, he said, “Get to work.”
**********
         Detective Moore was walking up the porch stairs to go into Jacob’s house. Four officers had come along with him, one of which was Officer Ferro. She and Detective Moore were walking side-by-side when they entered the house, with the other three officers walking in behind them.
“Ramsey, point me towards the kitchen.” Detective Moore commanded.
         Officer Ramsey, a small, scraggly, black-haired man, pointed his long, skinny finger to the left. Detective Moore and Officer Ferro immediately headed off to the kitchen without waiting for the other officers.
When they got in there, they stood for just a moment, taking in everything around them. Then, they strolled over to the refrigerator, which was dusty and smelled of rotten foods. All over the front of the refrigerator, there were drawings that looked like they were drawn by a kindergartener.
Detective Moore and Officer Ferro began to inspect the drawings, looking at every detail they could see. Officer Ferro was frozen on a particular picture, one of the better drawings out of the group. Detective Moore walked over to her, lightly put his hand on her back, and she jumped up with a gasp.
“Sir, I know who this is. We need to go back right now.”
“Why?” Detective Moore was taken aback by her sudden response.
Her voice went down to a whisper, hardly loud enough to hear. “Because I know who his ally is. We need to leave now, but we need to leave the other officers here.”
“Officer Ferro, why do we need to leave the other officers here?”
“Because… Because I think Officer Ramsey is the killer.”
Detective Moore’s mind started racing. How does she know this? Can I trust her? What if she’s wrong? Then he stopped. He knew he could trust her. He looked over at her, nodded his head, and mouthed the words, “Peek out the door.”
He wanted her to see if the officers were still out there. She tiptoed to the door, quietly pushed it open, and looked out. Her eyes suddenly got very wide, and she looked back at Detective Moore with terrified eyes that he had never seen before.
“What? What is it?” Detective Moore whispered harshly.
Officer Ferro responded by pushing the door open all the way. Two of the officers were on the floor, unconscious. Officer Ramsey was nowhere to be seen.
“We need to go, NOW!” Detective Moore barked.
                               **********
The police car was going eighty-five miles per hour, and Detective Moore and Officer Ferro were trying to decide what to do.
“We need to call in on the radio and warn them!” Officer Ferro said.
“No, we can’t do that. Officer Ramsey still has his radio, he could hear us,” Detective Moore responded.
“Okay, then what are we supposed to do?”
“We have to take him down on our own.”
“A-a-alright.” Officer Ferro responded with a shaky voice and a scared look on her face.
They pulled into the station where all the officers were, along with Jacob Ringer. They both took a deep breath, opened their doors, and walked inside, guns ready at their side.
                               **********
They walked straight to the sheriff’s office, to tell him what they knew. They knocked on the door, and they heard a raspy voice say, “Come in.”
They looked at each other, and then walked in. The sheriff looked at them, gave them a smile, and said, “Whatcha need officers?”
They both looked at each other, and opened their mouths to speak, but right as they did, another officer burst into the office.
“SIR!” he frantically said.
“What is it, sonny?” he responded with concern.
“Sir, Jacob Ringer is gone. And so is Officer Ramsey.”
Detective Moore and Officer Ferro couldn’t believe it. They were both gone. Now it was up to them to start over and find them again.