The Mind Hunter

by Mir Quadri

  “Okay, so how do you end the session?” asked Rovans.

  “Once I have seen all the clues, I trigger the suspect’s mind that it’s time to return. Since the suspect has no clue that he is living something that he has already lived before, I trigger this in my mind by shouting ‘Snap out’. This triggers the suspect’s mind giving him a signal that it’s time to return. When I say those words, the suspect hears a loud howling sound of an elk bellowing in a forest and then sees a big twister that takes him in it’s strides and shreds the entire session” said Will.

  “Why such dramatic ending?” asked Rovans.

  “Twisters are something everyone is afraid of, and we need that kind of a kick to come back from the session” answered Will.

  “Well, Mr Ross, thank you for your explanation of the entire process. However, there have been a lot of concerns raised by many people about the risks associated to the suspect in the process of doing this, which in some cases can cause death. The press calls you ‘the Mind Hunter’. What do you have to say about that?” asked Cas.

  “I like that tag” said Will with a grin.

  “Will…” interrupted Evelyn.

  “Okay…as I see, there are two risks to the suspect’s mind in an Hunting Session. One, if the suspect remains in the session for far too long at a stretch. If this happens, the entire Hunting Session gets too unstable and eventually the suspect could figure out that something’s wrong. Which is why, I make sure that the session ends as quickly as I have figured out the clues of the crime…” said Will

  “Why is that?” interrupted Cas.

  “Because, though the brain is the most fascinating thing in the world, it does require blood and oxygen to function. If the suspect is kept in a session for far too long, the brain cells which has this particular memory that we are watching in the session uses up all the blood, resulting in other parts of the brain not getting enough blood. The other cells can remain active for a long time but eventually, they get dry and die due to lack of oxygen” he explained.

  “And what is the other risk?” asked Cas.

  “The other risk is when returning from the session. It is important for me to say ‘Snap out’, that triggers my mind to play the loud howling sound of an elk bellowing in a forest for the suspect and then the suspect sees the twister taking him up. The suspect cannot return unless he or she hears the elk and sees the twister taking him or her. If I just come out of the session abruptly, the suspect gets into the state of coma, sometimes cardiac arrest and can die” he said.

  “Which is why, we take extreme precautions. Will ensures that he comes back within few minutes if he does not get the clues and we do several small sessions to find the clues rather than one big session” explained Evelyn and continued “we also have doctors onsite for immediate medical attention if needed and Sarah monitors the blood levels carefully throughout the session”.

  “But I still feel this is too risky, don’t you think?” asked Rovans turning around and looking to his other peers.

  “Sir, please understand that there are several cases that Mr Ross has closed, which we would not have closed in ten years. We need him to do this. He has done this with fort nine cases already and there have been no problems. I strongly urge you gentlemen to think carefully before deciding” Evelyn warned them.

  “I agree with Boss. Will has been of huge help to our team” added Kate who was listening very patiently all this while.

  “Well, thank you all for your suggestions and thank you Mr Ross for your time. I think we got what we needed. Evelyn, do you mind if we had a word in private? asked Harry.

  “Sure. I am glad I could be of help” said Will as he got up and walked out of the room. Kate, Dan and Sarah followed him out.

  “Ms Monroe, we wanted to ask your professional opinion about Mr Ross. Can he be trusted?” asked Tanner.

  “Absolutely, sir. He is an asset to this team” said Evelyn almost instantly.

  On hearing this, all the three fatties along with Harry looked at each other for a brief moment. Then Tanner continued “well, can you be trusted?” he asked acutely.

  Evelyn got confused for a moment. She looked at Harry to clear the air, but Harry hesitated to make any eye contact. With other three fatties starring at her and Harry clearly not her side, Evelyn took a moment before retorting “what does that question mean. I don’t understand your question”.

  “Ms Monroe, sources tell me that Mr Ross has been acting a little weird these days. He clearly looks someone with exaggerated sense of self importance, he also looks like someone who is suffering from insomnia. We all feel he is unstable to do this job…” said Tanner

  “And what are you basing these on?” enquired Evelyn, interrupting Tanner.

  “My sources told me. They also told me that you have had several conversations with Mr Ross in the recent past about his behavior, which clearly resembles that of an unstable person. They also think…” he paused for a moment and looked around to his peers and continued “that you have a girl crush on Mr Ross” said Tanner eloquently.

  Evelyn got furious. In her fury, she retorted “this is ridiculous. Did your ‘sources’ not tell you that Mr Ross has closed forty nine cases when he was in a much worse condition? When we found Mr Ross a few year ago, he was a wreck, who had just lost his family. When he could close forty nine cases without any incidents, I think that very fact is proof enough for me to trust Mr Ross completely. I think looking at actions will help you better gauge him than following some perceptions of your so called ‘sources’ who seem to have very colorful imaginations.”

  “So you deny having any kind of feelings for Mr Ross?” asked Cas.

  “Will lost everything he had. He lost both his daughters who were slaughtered right before his wife. He lost his wife who was raped and killed. Yes, I do have feelings for Mr Ross, but these are of sympathy and nothing else” she responded as her eyes turned red and her throat experienced a weird choking sensation. She knew what she had just said was not the full truth and that she had feelings of love, grown from the roots of sympathy for Will.

  “Thank you, Evelyn. I think these were all the questions we had. I am sure you have a lot of cases to get back to, so you may go” said Harry. Evelyn got up and walked out of the room. Harry followed her as she walked in the corridor “hey Evelyn” he shouted. Evelyn turned around but continued walking. “I am running late Harry, what is it?” she asked as she continued to walk. Harry ran a little to match pace with Evelyn.

  “Sorry for all the drama in there Evelyn, this was necessary” he said.

  “Yeah I understand. This was a necessary evil. What do you think they will do with Will?” she asked.

  “Will is fine. Thanks to your heroic effort, I think they will go back to their lavish offices where they came from.” he said and continued “listen, I know you are running late now, but do you mind if we catch-up for a little bit at the end of today. I want to discuss Will’s family murder case with you. We found something, which is very sensitive and I want to know your opinion about it” he said, almost murmuring to her. She stopped and looked at Harry “What is it?” she asked anxiously.

  “It’s nothing that can’t wait until later today. You carry on with your day, I will swing by your office later today’ he said as they split their paths. Evelyn walked straight into her section of the floor which her team had occupied. She found Kate sitting at her desk with her laptop. Evelyn walked straight to her “where is Will?” she asked.

  “Hey boss, I saw him going over some evidence from the banker’s case with Dan in the evidence room’ she said as she gently pushed the laptop screen down. “How was it in there after we left?” she asked.

  “Bad” said Evelyn as she poured some water in a glass to drink. “Where is our suspect?” she asked and galloped all the water from the glass at one go.

  “She is in our custody boss. Sarah is preparing her for the Hunting Session right now” said Kate as she continued “don’t worry boss, thi
s session will be a piece of cake.”

  “You don’t understand Kate, this case is a weird one” said Evelyn with a concerned look on her.

  “Weird? How boss?” enquired Kate.

  “I have not told this to anyone and you should promise me that this will be between us” said Evelyn.

  “Of course boss, what’s up?” gaped Kate.

  “The banker’s widow asked to have Will on this case specifically…” she said and continued “…and said that she would trade this favor in exchange of information she claims she has on Will’s family’s murders”.

  “WHAT THE…”

  ‘These murders have been so brutal’ thought Will as he looked at the pictures of victims of the unsolved murders on the board. The brunette who was killed in a swimming pool, the office lady who was raped and killed in the parking garage, the twin sisters who were killed at the Riverfront when they returned home from school and then the newest of them all, the banker, a fat, bald, mid forties man of Asian descent, whose throat was slit by a sharp object, maybe knife, while he was asleep.

  ‘Tell me about him” he said as he continued to gaze at his picture.

  “Well, this is Mr Stephen Zhu. His family migrated to the States when he was four. He grew up in California and that is where he first started a bank exclusively for Chinese people with his partners over in Beijing. He moved here about ten years ago when he got married to Mary White, who was her personal assistant at the bank before she became his wife. They had recently bought a big mansion, North of Brownsville, and had been living there for almost two years” said Dan while reading from a pile of papers he held in his hands.

  “There is something about him” Will said as he drooled over the banker’s picture. “There’s something different about this murder as compared to the other four” he said.

  “Yes. I thought so too. Then I realized that this is a man and other four were women” said Dan, trying his best to help out the great Will, who he always looked up to as someone he would like to become some day. All his career, which was just about a year in the department, he was completely mesmerized by Will’s charm. For him, Will was ‘THE MAN’ with all the answers, a great attitude and adrenal rush of a masculine charisma.

  Will turned around and looked at Dan with a smile “thank you, Dan. I think I had missed that” he said sarcastically.

  “Also, the banker is bald while the other four victims have hair” added Dan, in all honesty thinking that he was really helping.

  “Of course” said Will and continued “but that’s not it. The banker somehow feels very familiar to me. I think I have seen him somewhere” he said thoughtfully.

  “Yes, he has got a very familiar face” added Dan, this time pushing it too far.

  Will looked at him and smiled “Dan, do you know what percent of people in the world have identical faces?” he asked.

  “No, sir” answered Dan hesitatingly.

  “About 3.2% of people are identical — we call them identical twins” said Will and continued “Are you saying that this guy here has an identical twin?”

  “No, sir” he said softly.

  “Okay, how do you know?” asked Will.

  Dan started sweating “I don’t know, sir” he said.

  “Right, we don’t know. Are you saying that his face is a ‘familiar face’ because he is Asian?” he asked.

  “No sir, I did not mean that” answered Dan, now almost shivering.

  “Be sure of what you say out loud, Dan. This is a word of advise for you. You’re starting your career and things that you say without thinking can get you into trouble. Now, I think the best way to test our theory of his identical twin is?” Will asked with a smile.

  “Is to see how many siblings he had and check if there was an identical twin” said Dan.

  “Now you’re a detective!” said Will, patting his back. “Thank you, sir’ said Dan with a sigh of relief that this was over, just as Evelyn walked into the room.

  “We are ready, Will” she said as soon as she entered the room.

  “Here you are! How was it after we left?” asked Will derisively.

  “Well, you’re still stuck with us if that’s what you want to know” replied Evelyn. She then turned around and looked at Dan “Did you brief him on the victim’s profile yet?” she asked.

  “Yes, ma'am” replied Dan.

  “Tell me about the wife” said Dan. Evelyn looked through the papers in her hands and said ‘Well, her name is Mary White. She was born and brought up in Miami, she did her Masters in Business Administration. After her college, she moved to California where she worked a few odd jobs and then eventually landed in Zhu Bank for Chinese, about three year ago as a personal assistant to Mr Zhu and they eventually got married two years later and moved back here” said Evelyn.

  “Hmm.. It’s a little strange. Mr Zhu employed a Masters in Business Administration as his Personal Assistant? ” pointed Will.

  “Why do you think so?” asked Evelyn.

  “Because, she is cute” added Dan, and then after a brief moment realized that the comment could be interpreted as inappropriate.

  “Is she cute Dan?” asked Will, playfully.

  Dan looked at Evelyn who gave him a cold look. “I would not know, sir. I was just trying to think out of the box” he said to rescue himself out of this conversation, again.

  “Maybe he is right. Anyways, we got a 911 call at around 2 AM when she reported the murder. She said that she got up to use the restroom, which was located opposite to their bedroom, when she heard a man break into the house through a window on the first floor. She immediately got out of the restroom and ran to the bedroom to call 911. But as she entered the room, she saw this guy murder her husband. She was terrified so she hid behind the closet until he left and that is when she called the police” said Evelyn.

  “You told me that she is a suspect too? Why do you think so?” asked Will.

  “Firstly, this was no robbery. Nothing was stolen. No signs that anyone tried to break open anything. Secondly, there is something wrong with the timing of events she described. The restroom is located about 20 feet front the bedroom. She claims that as soon as she heard the first floor window break, she came running out of the restroom towards the bedroom — it would not have taken her more than a minute to be in the bedroom. Now, the window which the intruder broke was about 15 feet from the staircase — there are 15 steps to climb to get to the second floor and about 10 feet to cross before you can get to the bedroom. So according to her, the killer broke into the house, walked 20 feet, climbed the stairs and walked 10 feet and killed her husband by the time she came into the room. And all this happened in a min? It just does not add up. And lastly, she has a million dollar insurance plan for his death, so, you know…” explained Evelyn.

  “Interesting. Let’s see what she really did” said Will.

  Evelyn smiled and turned around to Dan and said “Dan, could you please check in with Sarah if everything is ready?” she asked. “Sure ma'am” responded Dan and walked out of the room. Evelyn turned to Will “Will, you can do this right?” she asked with concern.

  “What do you mean?” countered Will.

  “We are on a very tight leash. The board just needs one good reason to call this all off. We cannot afford to make any mistakes” said Evelyn.

  “I told you before, and I am telling you again. I am fine. I don’t make any mistakes. And as far as your board is concerned, technically speaking, those office politics are not my problem” he grinned.

  “Yes, sure. Just do your job right and I will handle the rest” she said as they both walked out of the room.

  ‘It’s getting cold in here’ thought Mary White as she kept tapping the table by her long, red polished finger nails, in anxiety. She was a White, green eyed, blonde curly haired, slim woman in her mid thirties, sitting anxiously like a cat put in front of a dog.

  ‘And it’s getting late’ she said to herself as she peeked at her watch.


  “When are they going to be here?” she turned around and asked.

  “I don’t know, I am just a lab geek” said a voice from behind a stack of ten black colored network routers. Underneath the lowest router peeked a girl with thick round nerdy glasses. It was Sarah.

  “Well, tell me about this session. Do I feel dizzy when I am in it?” asked Mary, enthusiastically.

  “I don’t think you even know that you are in a session to begin with” replied Sarah as Dan entered the room.

  “Sarah, are we ready?’ he asked just as he entered.

  “What? I have been working for hours in this room in preparation of the session you idiot!” complained Sarah. Dan did not understand where that came from. After a brief pause he said ‘I am sorry, Sarah. I just wanted to check if we are ready for the session” he explained.

  “Yeah, I am trying to say that I have been working on this equipment for hours so of course we are ready. Where the hell is Kate. I can’t do all this alone. What do you guys do anyways?” she asked irritatingly.

  “I don’t know. I am still figuring stuff around here” he said. Just then Kate, Evelyn and Will entered the room along with a bunch of cops. The moment Evelyn entered the room, Sarah sprung into the standing position and Dan became attentive.

  ‘Are we ready?” she asked.

  “Yes ma'am. Everything is set” replied Sarah instantly.

  ‘Ms White, this is Mr Ross, who would be performing a Hunting Session on you” she said pointing towards Will. Will emerged from the crowd, “It’s good to meet you, Ms White” he said promptly.

  Ms White got up from her chair. Her eyes lit up as she shook his hands. “It’s a pleasure to meet you Mr Ross” she said. Her eyes became intense and her pupil expanded as she stared at him. “So you are the famous Mind Hunter” she said.