On a single day, three different groups were at three different locations for three different reasons. Only two things tied the three together. The first was that they lived in the towns of Anselmo and Merna in central Nebraska. The second was that they were all crying. The first was the family of an eleven-year-old boy who had been murdered the week before. It was the day of his funeral, and most of the two towns were there, helping the family mourn their son. The second was the brother of a fifteen-year-old boy. He had found his brother dead in his room that day, and he was still shaken up. The third, one would have to be in a different town to hear. The third was one that one wouldn't know of unless one was there. At the police station a town over, if one knew what they were looking for, they would hear the soft, terrified crying of a small girl.
Murder wasn't something that was common at all in the small towns, so when they had four- now five- dead bodies turn up in ten days, it was time to call in the FBI. The nearest police department, the one of Broken Bow, Nebraska, had tried their best, but after the second murder, they knew they weren't going to be able to catch the murderer without help. After the fourth, the FBI was brought in. Specifically the Behavioral Analysis Unit, or the BAU. They had a suspect in police custody, just not enough evidence to make an arrest. Yet. They just needed the BAU's help to get her talking. Sheriff Miles Anderson was waiting for the BAU to arrive while two cops were watching the suspect. Finally, the agent they had been waiting for arrived.
"SSA Jason Gideon," the agent introduced, but Anderson already knew who he was.
"Sheriff Miles Anderson. I want to thank you for coming out here to the middle of nowhere to help us out. Means a lot. Now, we do have a suspect in custody, but we can't get her to talk. I don't wonder if you might be able to get more information out of her?" Anderson suggested, and Gideon answered that he had to look at a crime scene first, so they drove out of Broken Bow to Merna, where the boy was still lying dead in his bedroom.
"Anything linking any of the victims?" Gideon asked Anderson upon entering the victim's home, which was empty of the rest of the family.
"Besides the fact that they all live in the same area and go to the same school, no. Well, they were all killed the same way. Found in their bedrooms with a bullet in their head and stab wounds in the back, but they were then covered up," Anderson answered.
"They were shot in the face. That's personal. The stab wounds in the back tell us that this was probably a revenge murder. Unsub might have thought that this boy and the rest stabbed him in the back, and being covered up possibly shows remorse," Gideon was about to continue, but Anderson stopped him.
"This girl knows nothing of being personal or remorse. She did it because she wanted to, not because she was trying to get revenge."
"Female serial killers are rare. What makes you think that this is one of those rare cases?" Gideon asked.
"She's the only one who could do this," Anderson answered simply. Gideon wanted to tell him that it was more often than not the ones they didn't think could do it that were the ones they were looking for. Yet, he also could tell by Anderson's demeanor that he was arrogant and headstrong, and his mind wouldn't be changed that easily.
"You do know the phrase 'innocent until proven guilty', right?" Gideon responded instead.
"That's not the case with this girl. With this girl, it's 'guilty until proven innocent', and I doubt she's innocent," Anderson retorted, and Gideon knew he would have to prove the girl's innocence or possible guilt through the interrogation he knew they wanted him to perform. As soon as he had a better understanding of the crime scene and a better grasp on what had happened, he was ready to talk to the suspect. Once they arrived at the police station, Anderson started talking about the suspect. "Her name is Ciara Byrne, and trust me, she's got some issues. What was that thing you proposed? The homicidal triad? Now, I don't know about bed-wetting, since I've never thought to ask, but the arson and cruelty to animals are definitely there." That was when Gideon was able to hear the soft crying that had plagued the station for several hours. "Yeah, that's her crying back there. Don't let it fool you. She's faking it to seem innocent, you know?"
"That has yet to be determined," Gideon responded nonchalantly. When they reached what served as an interrogation room, the crying was louder, but there was nobody inside. Just a table with two empty chairs.
"Damn it. She's probably hiding under the table. Fox, get in there and get her out from under there so we can see her," Anderson instructed, and the young cop, Pierce Fox, quickly did as he was told, although he was secretly one of the very few that didn't think Ciara Byrne was responsible for the murders. A scream was heard in addition to the crying as soon as he reached under the table, but orders were orders, so he didn't let it deter him. He pulled her out and set her on a chair, exposing the small girl to everyone.
"Anderson, you can't be serious! That girl is a child. She can't be any more than six. Do you really think she could have murdered five kids?" Gideon asked in disbelief.
"She is six, and yeah, most of us around here really do. I told you, she's messed up in the worst of ways. Evil knows no age, now does it?" Gideon was still in disbelief. The small girl, who was now alone in the room, was obviously terrified beyond belief. Tears were streaming down her face, the trail proving that she was shaking. She was clutching onto a small blanket, trying to keep her emotions in check, but it was proving difficult for her to do so. "Isn't it odd? We told her she could call her mom or dad but she refused. She just asked for a blanket."
"Strange. Most children her age are very attached to their parents and would jump on any opportunity to speak to them. You said she refused to talk to her parents?" Gideon asked.
"Yeah."
"Is everything alright at the home? No problems?"
"Any problems are her fault. She's the menace. So, according to your 'profiling', why did she want a blanket and not her parents?"
"She's terrified right now, and the blanket is a way to comfort her. Did you take her from her home?" Gideon asked.
"No, we got her from school as soon as we found out about the fifth victim. As soon as we entered the room she started screaming and trying to run away. You know, you could ask her about all this yourself. Why don't you go talk to her?" Anderson suggested. Gideon quickly entered the room, and the girl, Ciara, shrunk a little in her seat when she saw him. She was small for her age, but with gleaming chestnut hair and a pale skin tone. Yet, Gideon wasn't able to see her eyes. Her eyes were either glued to the floor or shifting, looking absolutely everywhere but at him. She was still crying, clutching the blanket close to her chest.
"Hey there. I'm Special Agent Gideon from the FBI, and I need to-" Gideon was about to tell her he needed to ask her some questions, but Ciara shook her head.
"No. I want to go home. I want to go home," Ciara mumbled, but Gideon was able to pick it up. He noticed that the girl had a slight Irish accent, but with a name like Ciara Byrne, that wasn't that much of a surprise.
"I know you do, but I have to ask you a few questions first. Can you tell me anything about the kids who died?"
"I do not know. I do not know. I knew them. I know how they died. But... I want to... I want..." From there, her speech became unintelligible, becoming mere sounds and noises and nothing that could be understood.
"Ciara, calm down and tell me what you need to say," Gideon tried to comfort the small girl, but her speech only became more difficult to understand. Her tears increased as her speech decreased, and soon, she was more screaming than even trying to talk. Then she did something no one expected. She leapt out of the chair, left her blanket behind, and ran up to the wall, before banging her head, hard, at least four times. Gideon, of course, attempted to stop her, but she would break from his grasp and bang her head again. Then, as quickly as it all started, it was over, and Ciara walked back to her chair, picked up her blanket, and sat down.
"I did not do it. I did not do it. Thou shalt not kill, and thou shalt not lie," Ciara recited two of the Commandments, her speech able to be understood again, but still scared.
"I don't think you did. But can you tell me why you reacted the way you did when the police came?" Gideon asked, and Ciara shook her head and put her hands over her ears.
"It was loud. It was loud. It was a surprise and it was unexpected. I did not know it was coming, and then other kids started screaming, and I started screaming to block out their screams, but it did not work. Then I tried to run away so I could get somewhere quiet when Anderson grabbed me and touched me. When I tried to get him to stop touching me, he pushed me to the floor and put handcuffs on me, and they hurt my wrists," Ciara explained, never once looking anywhere but the floor.
"You didn't do anything to those poor kids, did you, Ciara?" Gideon questioned, and Ciara shook her head.
"I did not. I did not. Can I go home now? I really want to go home now. School is over by now and Mammy will be expecting me home," Ciara answered.
"Yeah. Let's get you home." Gideon led Ciara out of the interrogation room, but when he tried to touch her, she shied away from him, taking her blanket and wrapping it around herself like a sort of hood. "It wasn't her, Anderson. You terrified a small child for no reason. Take her home." Anderson still wasn't convinced that Ciara didn't do it, but he also knew that he wasn't going to argue, and instead took Ciara to her home, where, just like Ciara had said, her mother and her father were waiting for her. But instead of it being a nice welcome, she was welcomed with a few nasty words about being late and a one-way ticket to her room.
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The next day, a Saturday, came without any progress in finding who killed the children. Gideon kept assuring that he was close, but the local police started to disbelieve. They weren't sure if they would ever find out, until a small chestnut-haired girl walked into the station, requesting to talk to Gideon. Anderson, upon seeing her, thought that maybe she was going to actually confess her guilt, but she just repeated her request to talk to Gideon. They didn't let her, but she was able to hear exactly what was being said. Anderson was slightly unsure as to why the victims were shot, and then stabbed, but Ciara didn't listen for an answer. She knew why, anyway. She waited until they figured out that it was because there were two different murderers or one with a split personality. Using her small stature, she was easily able to sneak past the cops that were trying to hold her back and made her way to where she heard Gideon's voice come from. She wanted to apologize for what she did the previous day, but she also wanted to help. She stood behind him, glued her eyes to the floor, and made a small noise to catch his attention. Once he saw the small girl, a small smile crossed his lips.
"I am really sorry for the way I acted yesterday, Special Agent Gideon. The surprise and the noise when the cops came into my schoolroom overloaded my senses, and I was trying to comfort myself. It took until I had been home for an hour until I had calmed down enough to stop repeating myself," she explained.
"I can see that isn't the only thing you want to say," Gideon noticed, and Ciara nodded her head a little, still not looking up to meet anyone in the eye. If she looked up at all, she made sure she never made eye contact.
"I think I can help. Last night, when I was stuck in my room, I started to think, and I realized something. I realized I have always known who was murdering the kids. I just did not know I knew. But now I do. I know who did it and why. But, before I say exactly who it is, can I go through my thinking, see if it is viable and correct?" Ciara requested.
"No. We don't have time for this. Go home, Byrne. Actually, how did you get here in the first place?" Anderson asked.
"My mammy brought me. But I was not asking ye. I was asking Gideon. Can I?" Ciara pleaded.
"I don't see why not. If you know, I want to hear your thinking. Go on ahead," Gideon approved, and Ciara pointed to where she wanted Anderson to put the pictures of the kids.
"Five pictures are not going to fit in that small line," Anderson objected when he saw where she wanted the last picture put.
"They will if ye space them evenly apart," Ciara retorted, and in a minute, it was found she was right. "Okay. First is ten-year-old Clarissa Gregory. Not the smartest girl, but she was a star in the little girls' volleyball club. Found dead in her bedroom, just like the rest. The second is eleven-year-old Waylon Tasker. Really smart kid, and really athletic, too. A starter on the little boys' football team. Twelve-year-old Casey London. Star on the same team that Clarissa was on. That's when I noticed that they were going up by age and they are switching off. Girl, boy, girl, boy. Thirteen-year-old Tyrone Devin. Starter on the junior high football team. Fourteen-year-old Tawny Kimberly. Starter on the junior high volleyball team. And the last victim, fifteen-year-old Darryl Wooten. Starter on the high school varsity football team. Now, if I had to make a guess, I'd guess the next girl, the one that will die tomorrow, will be Philadelphia Jeanes," Ciara assumed.
"What makes you think that?" Anderson interrupted, and Ciara rolled her eyes. Not that anyone knew it. Her back was to everyone else, her eyes glued to the pictures.
"Don't ye see the other pattern? All the victims are stars on the teams. They are all the kind of kids that don't even have to try to just be amazing at their sport. Darryl Wooten. The only freshman to start varsity in a long time. Philly Jeanes. She just moved here, yet she's starting varsity volleyball. So then I thought some more. What could be a motive? Then I realized. Revenge," Ciara exposed.
"The Unsub felt it was unfair that these kids naturally took the spots on the team he felt he deserved, so he decided to take out the competition," Gideon realized.
"Exactly. And the stabbing in the back? The unsub thought that the community, the school, and the team had stabbed him in the back by putting those kids on the team instead of him. But ye were right about two unsubs. Two kids with two different personalities. I thought that one covered them up and shot them, and the second did the stabbing. The first was more organized, as she shot them execution style."
"Wait, she?" Anderson interjected.
"Yeah. She. Now let me finish, if ye please. She also felt more remorse. I figured that it was the second unsub that really wanted to do the killing, and he dragged the first along. Because of this, she didn't really want to kill them, but when an argument broke out between the two, they compromised. The first would shoot them quickly and get it over with, and then the second would take his turn. He was filled with more rage. Does this sound alright so far?" Ciara asked.
"For a six-year-old girl, it sounds more than alright. How did you figure all this out?" Gideon questioned, and Ciara shrugged, her eyes still on the pictures.
"I had a lot of time to think. Not that I needed it. So I thought some more. The second Unsub was more athletic, as it would have taken a little more athletic skill to stab someone in the back like he did. The first wasn't as athletic and took to solving her problems quickly and efficiently through brains rather than brawn. So I thought, and I realized who it was. Mandy and Randy Harmon," Ciara revealed.
"What? How could it be them?" Anderson objected. Gideon didn't know who they were talking about, so Ciara filled him in.
"Amanda and Randall Harmon, or Mandy and Randy to most. Twin brother and sister. They are seniors right now. They are always practicing their sport to hopefully start, but they always get benched. I talk to them a lot, and Mandy came over last night to watch me and said that Randy had gotten so tired of being benched. And that is when it clicked. Randy wanted to kill the competition, but Mandy would not do it, so he threatened to hurt her if she did not. She did the shooting and the covering up. He did the stabbing. Ask them. Mandy will confess, and she will confess for Randy, too," Ciara finally finished.
"I think we need to go talk to the Harmon twins." Ciara, although no one knew it, smiled just a little bit at Gideon's words. Someone actually believed her. Just as predicted, as soon as the police questioned Mandy, she confessed, and when Randy saw no way out of it, he confessed. Gideon started to wonder what would become of the small girl that had helped them solve the case. The small girl that was accused of committing the crime, but still helped them.
"I realized I never told ye my name, although I am sure ye knew it. Ciara Isabel Marie Byrne, although one day I will be known again as just Isabel," Ciara said as he was about to leave. Gideon didn't know what she meant by "known again", but he didn't think too much into it.
"Thanks for all your help, little case solver. I think you have a bright future ahead of you," he thanked her, and she did something she wouldn't do again for a very long time. She looked up, and made eye contact, finally letting Gideon know the color of her eyes. It was his words, though, not the eye contact, that stayed with her. For a tiny bit, she had a new nickname. Little case solver.
A few things I have to clear up real quick. Just a repeat, I don't own the Criminal Minds characters like Gideon. Okay. Second, the only thing that was real in all of that was the places. Merna, Anselmo, and Broken Bow, Nebraska, are real towns. However, the people, like Anderson, the Harmon twins, and the victims, are not real. Nothing like what happened in this chapter ever happened in real life. Lastly, I put a generalized warning in the description, but I'll now put a list of more specific triggers. Please, don't continue if you can't read about:
-Self-harm
-Alcoholism
-Gore
-Abuse (all kinds)
-Murder, rape, and kidnapping (although it wouldn't be much of a Criminal Minds story without them)
-Bullying
-Insanity
-If you don't like Third Person POV
-If I think of any more I'll add them.
Now that that is out of the way, if you are still here, I guess I'll see you next chapter! BYE!
"Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them." -Antoine de Saint-Exupéry