Psychosis

Prologue- Little Case Solver

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?"