Darkness Finds You [Andley]

Chapter One

"And there he is, the man of the hour!"

Andy allowed a small, smug smirk to take form on his lips as he entered the room, hands casually in the pockets of his black, wool trench coat. He pulled a hand out, running it through his hair calmly. His boots clicked on the tile floor, although the clicks were masked by the applause and cheering he was currently receiving.
"And what's all this about? My birthday isn't for another two months." Andy feigned confusion as he slid the coat off of his broad shoulders, draping it over his desk chair with one swift movement.
"You know exactly what this is, Biersack!" One of his colleagues tapped his shoulder, a proud smile on her face.
"Do I, now, Ms. Lindel?" He smoothly replied.
That was an easy question; of course he knew. Everybody in the state knew.

The past few weeks had consisted of brutal crimes committed against innocent civilians; a case that had been assigned to Andy as he had just recently achieved the status of head detective. At the time, the case were only two murders. Elderly woman, age 87, found dead in her home. The autopsy reports revealed that she did indeed die of heart failure, and given the woman's age, foul play was overlooked entirely. The week following, another death had been reported.

That time it was a 27 year old male, found dead in his work cubicle by the building custodian. Andy found it quite odd to hear of a perfectly healthy man of such a young age to die of a heart failure, and as did the department coroner. After the toxicology report came back, it was learned that the past two victim's had been injected with potassium chloride. Potassium chloride, when injected, mimics a heart attack and kills within minutes.

After learning such vital information, an investigation was sprung almost immediately, with Andy leading it proudly. Over the next few weeks, a total of seven victims had been unfortunately rolled into the morgue. According to those they spoke to regarding each killing, whether it be a family member, friend, or co-worker, the victim had supposedly received an envelope with nothing but their first name written in sloppy black ink. There was no address, meaning the killer had either personally known them or had been secretly stalking them. Inside each envelope was a message, although each individual note seemed personalized to the person receiving it, and each message was signed with a number. 27.

Everyone was hopelessly perplexed by the situation, especially Andy.

The victims all ranged in age, race, background, occupations, sex. There was nothing that Andy could find that connected one to the other. The fact that random killing was ruled out only puzzled him more. The question that plagued Andy's mind the most was what the hell '27' meant and why it was this guy's signature?
Actually, now that he thought about it, that still didn't add up...

"You caught the guy, Andy!" Alice, the colleague beside him, laughed and removed her hand from his shoulder. "So.. let's celebrate!"
Andy smiled a bit. "Right... I did, didn't I." He mused and looked over as a paper plate with a slice of cake was presented to him. "Seriously? You guys bought a cake for me?" He laughed, sitting in his chair before accepting the plate and fork.
"Uh-uh. Not bought. Made by yours truly." Alice grinned and went to get her own.

Andy laughed again quietly. "Well, thank you!" He shrugged and took a bite.
As he pulled the fork from between his lips, a chair was pulled up beside him. Andy looked over and saw a few of the newer members of the department had gathered around him, all staring in awe and wonder. Andy would be lying if he said he wasn't flattered by the attention...
"Yes, boys?" He chuckled and set his cake on his desk.
"Tell us everything.." The one that had first grabbed Andy's attention spoke up, his brown eyes wide with anticipation. "How did you know it was him?"
Andy smiled a bit. "What's your name?"
"Me? Um- Chris, sir. Chris Mora." Chris cleared his throat, straightening up a little. "Or- Officer Mora, I guess. I'm not quite up to detective status yet, but-"
"You'll get there someday. Trust me." Andy smiled reassuringly, patting him on the shoulder. "Now, Officer Mora, you said it was? The key thing to being a lead detective on a case like this is to always, always, keep an open mind. Remain one hundred percent aware of everyone and everything around you at all times. If I had let myself off guard for even a second, I would have missed the smallest detail that pointed me in the direction of getting the guy."
Chris nodded, eyes wide and still in awe. "Yeah- Of course, that makes total sense. So what was it that lead you to him?"
Andy leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs. "Well, I'll admit that it was incredibly complicated to piece together, but in the end it seemed that it was-"