Pam sat in the plain police room. Across from her was her interviewer Cassandra, someone who had once interviewed Jason. The widow had red puffy eyes and tissues next to her as Cassandra went through the initial questions.

“Please state your name for the recording and your power. If you have one,” asked Cassandra.

“Pam Roseman. I have facial augmentation powers. I can adjust my hair color, eye color, and my facial structure to a minor degree. It can only be activated if I look in a mirror and then hold the look in my mind for an hour or so until it wears off. At this point, my powers have usually just helped me remove wrinkles and gray hairs when I’m out and about.”

“I’ll work to make these questions as quick and painless as possible. First, do you know why your husband might have wanted to harm himself? Or do you know why someone would have wanted to harm him?”

“George was a well-liked man by our neighbors, mutual friends, and his colleagues in the city council offices. I am less familiar with his specific actions at work. He didn’t mention parts of his work very often unless something larger came up or was notable.”

“Was there anything recently that he mentioned to you about his work?”

“More recently he discussed paperwork for rebuilding the Hoffman Apartments, the boardwalk at the lake, and a few other things. I’m not sure why someone would do something like this.”

“Well, that is what we are trying to find out and will as we investigate the different parts of this case. Now let move on to the night in question. What time did you arrive at the restaurant?”

“George had set the reservation up for 5:30 so we arrived around then.”

“And this reservation. Did others know about this reservation and when he scheduled it for?”

“I didn’t know about it until the day before. I think he only told Sam about it as far as I know.”

This Sam is your son? Yes?”

“Yeah, he is my older son.”

“Now I know you have another child as well Mrs. Roseman. Can you tell me about them?”

“I’ve got two children. Roger and Sam. Roger is the younger son and has been living at home while finishing college. He is finishing up his degree this year. Samuel is off on his own now working at a real estate office down south. He comes to visit occasionally when he has time but is otherwise busy living his own life now. We see him at least once a month and sometimes twice.”

“Would you happen to know about any recent turmoil in either of their lives? Anything that might have caused your husband to be targeted or hated?”

“George was a well-liked man as I stated and was a good coworker from the city gatherings and events I went to with him. He also kept to himself both at work and home from what I could tell. He should never have been targeted like this and murdered like this. I think we can both agree that this was something unnatural, forced, and not a suicide,” said Pam. Her voice started to rise as she spoke the final sentence.

“Of course. From the reports of the other guests and the waiter, your husband was unnaturally calm and stabbed himself to death without pause or consideration for anyone or anything. And considering his medical history this was not a natural occurrence. That means we need to narrow down a possible motive and leads. Few superhumans can force a man to kill himself without resistance. Perhaps it was because your husband was taken off guard due to the scene we just don’t know much yet. We will try to keep you in the loop as more information comes in. Hopefully, we can link the killer to another case before they attack again. For now, though I have a few more questions ok?”

“Ok," Pam said quietly.

“What has your financial situation been like in recent years?”

<-0-0-0-0-0->

Dan stepped up and pressed pause on the video recording of the Pam Roseman interview. There were a few more questions left to answer on the recording, but they were less important to their investigation. Turning around he looked at the other superheroes in the room that made up the Superhuman Task Force.

“So, what do you think?” asked Dan to the others in the room.

“The two siblings still need to be interviewed. Maybe they have the connection we are missing. Regardless we should look into which psychic superhumans could fit this profile,” answered Ben. He sat back in his chair and looked to the others in the room for their thoughts.

“I pulled up the records from the Cage to do just that,” said Jake, “The expected candidates for this kind of thing are still in jail and have an alibi because of that. It might be someone who slipped by the system during the testing of their powers, but I doubt it. Children are monitored quite well when they have a moderately problematic power. I’ll keep going over old records though and see what I can find. Based on the reports so far this seems like a newer killer. No calling card was left or strong indication towards any particular psychic killer.”

“Even if it is unlikely there is the chance that a mistake could’ve happened. There is the possibility that powers could have changed over time as well. Maybe a smaller power that read minds nearby grew to control minds as well. I do find it troubling that there seemed to be no warning and the man didn’t or couldn’t fight back throughout the entire process. That more than anything else scares me,” said Dan.

“That still doesn’t explain the cameras. And the fact that absolutely no footage for the two hours before the incident and an hour afterward. Caleb’s trying to recover the footage now, but it is corrupted. Then there is the question of how did they get in, kill, and escape. Even if they snuck through the crowd the workers and or police should have noted someone suspicious,” said Rachel.

“I agree that it doesn’t fit the usual MO of a psychic killer, but it is hard to say what they can and couldn’t have done there without reading through a report of their power. As for the cameras I would expect the killer to have found a way to shut them off using an unwilling victim and not corrupt the footage,” said Dan, “Choosing to corrupt the footage would mean they used a piece of tech to do it while their focus was on getting the kill.

“The way they did this might indicate the killer knew what they were doing and had done this before, but I pulled the list of suicides and found nothing unusual. Though I guess that makes sense because the kill left no clear marks behind. The other suicides would have to make note of cameras on the fritz for me to connect the two more clearly,” said Emma, “I can try checking other cities' databases. There is also the possibility that the killer decided to make the kill openly for attention or recognition. Maybe this is the first time they were around cameras and didn’t need to go through this process before. Regardless, we need an expert from the field.”

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“My grandma Linda is already busy from what I’ve heard and is out of the country on a work vacation of sorts so we can’t speak with her. We will need to find someone else, but I will try forwarding her some of the case information and see if she responds.”

“While you’re waiting on the sibling interviews I think I can get us that expert on killings. It will be another day or two before we can get the son in from out of state so this could be something to hold us over,” said Ben, “It will require a bunch of paperwork but once it is done we could speak with a first-hand source on the subject. Anyone up for a trip to the Appalachia?”

<-0-0-0-0-0->

Deep within the mountains of the Appalachia’s in an undisclosed location stood heavy vault doors with guards at watch nearby. The doors were the only entrance into Cage 1, a superhuman prison facility. It was denoted with a 1 because of its sister facility located in the deserts of Arizona and Nevada. The Cage 2 was similarly secured and hidden from all but a few and those that work there.

After filing the necessary paperwork and waiting for a response, their Superhuman Task Force was allowed to enter the Cage for a short visit. Two days after filing the papers required a group from the Cage came to pick them up. Their super suits were left behind before they flew off to the prison’s location. The plane had blacked out windows as they traveled. The trip itself was quick and comfortable enough during the time they had.

Together their group was then paraded out of the plane and brought through the entrance of the Cage, all while their eyes and ears were blocked. They were shuffled through the entrance, and it was locked behind them after which their blindfolds were removed.

Rachel looked around the entrance area with interest and unease. She had yet to visit the Cage before and was glad to have never experienced it before. The excavated cave walls were lit up with artificial lighting with a quiet buzzing echoing through the room. She recognized the sound and felt it as well when they entered the room. The lightweight feeling in her feet was gone and each step was awkward for a minute as she adjusted to having access to her powers being disabled. Looking around she saw her teammates experiencing a similar feeling as they too adjusted to the temporary removal of their powers.

They were corralled further down sculped tunnels and passed a few branching hallways until they entered the one they were looking for. Inside the room, some plastic tables and chairs were set up already with their subject of interest already sitting down in one of the chairs. On opposite sides of him, prison guards stood and watched him.

Dan took the lead in entering and finding a seat in front of the man followed shortly by Ben and Rachel.

“It is nice to have some visitors once more. It’s a shame however that it always seems to be under dire circumstances or auspicious signs. I would much rather start with some idle chit-chat or discussion of current events. Things can get so bland down here in the caves.”

“And yet I’d rather get down to the heart of the matter as soon as possible. Is that something that you can do?” responded Dan.

“Of course, you would. I would expect nothing less from you. It is your responsibility as a police officer after all. How about you?” asked the prisoner turning his attention to Rachel and Ben. “Will you tell me about what’s going on up there?”

He pointed upwards and paused. NO one responded to his question and he shook his head.

“You don’t need to answer that,” Dan butted in, “It is what he does. Distracts people and reads them like books. With or without powers.”

“And I do it quite well. It is why I’m in here after all. I saw and heard a few too many secrets while doing my work. Ones that people on the surface wanted to lock away ones that will…”

This time it was one of the guards that hit him in the ribs, and he gasped. The prisoner looked up and glared at the guard. It took a minute for him to compose himself again before he continued.

“Sorry about that. My handlers don’t like me talking about what got me down here and it is why I get so few visitors. Best if those secrets stay hidden in this bunker. So where were we?”

“You were going to tell us what answers you have about a murder case we have, or we were going to look for someone else in this in this prison who can help us.”

“Very well. I know the drill. Give me the papers. I promise I won’t tear them up,” said the prisoner with his hands now outstretched.

Dan handed him a few pieces of paper. The prisoner did as promised and began skimming through them without tearing the pages. Dan and the others waited patiently as the prisoner finished reading. Five minutes later he looked up from his papers and flipped them over to the first.

“Interesting case you’ve got here. I did not do many killings in my day. It’s part of the reason why it took so long for me to catch the eye of the police. So, I can’t say much about how the killer could have done better, but I can speak to how my approach would have differed. This is assuming the killer’s powers mirrored mine. Which they very likely don’t.

“First is how to enter. Through the back worker’s entrance of course and the killer likely did just that. Because the kill was set an hour into rush hour at the restaurant there is just no other way. They might have tried their luck getting a reservation, but that would mean knowing his schedule a month in advance and risking being tracked down through the reservation regardless of a fake name or not. The next thing to deal with was the cameras. The killer chose to corrupt the camera data completely. This is unique as I would have influenced the manager to flip them off instead and let them forget doing so.

“But once the cameras are dealt with the final two steps can be dealt with. Assuming the place was scoped out beforehand I would walk around the back rooms in the costume of a waiter or otherwise find one. Some stress might occur while waiting and influencing the other staff members to avoid me and not make a scene. Then I wait until the target arrives and I’m ready. In the business of the restaurant, one extra waiter won’t be noticed while the others are making their rounds. Then when the time is right for the waiter to focus on my target’s table is busy I would leave my mark. Timed activation would be the key and necessary for the scene so as not to alert any guests.

“Finally, would be the escape. After drawing the focus towards the dying man, it would be easier to push them towards that scene and away from an exit through the back. That’s how I think it would have been done anyway,” said the prisoner concluding his story.

“But that doesn’t answer how the cameras would have been turned back on or why he was targeted,” said Rachel.

“The cameras would have reactivated after the murderer left the scene with the disrupting tech they brought. As for why they were murdered I can’t make a definitive statement on that. The children haven’t been interviewed and you have left a few people out before you can conclude everything from the scene.”

“Then what would you suggest we do?” asked Ben.

“Preferrable wait. They might attack again at which point you can establish a pattern. Though you likely won’t do that so I would instead suggest you do three things. First, you should follow up on those last interviews and try to establish a motive. At the same time get a technomancer to look over the messed-up footage. They gave you an in by doing that and you should exploit that path. Finally, you should look over the waiters once more that appeared during the night. The killer had to have been in the room or next to it depending on their power level to kill the man. Someone must’ve seen something that you missed initially. An extra waiter walking around carrying no food, a stranger hovering next to the windows for a bit too long. It could be anything really, but they are all valid paths to follow while you wait for the killer to attack someone else.”

There was silence for a minute while Dan thought over the suggestions, theories, and evidence once again. He checked the time on his watch before speaking again.

“Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to answer some questions. We will work on those leads as you suggested and see what comes of them. Have a good day Wallace.”

“You will be dearly missed,” said Wallace as they started filing out of the door. The guards kept him seated with a firm hand as he watched.

Once the group was out of earshot of Wallace, Rachel spoke up.

“How trustworthy is that guy’s information?”

“Very. He isn’t at the level of your grandmother, but he is close. If the power protections were not activated then he could listen in on every conversation that happens in these caves.”

“Then what would you like us to do individually?”

“The camera decoding has already been started by Caleb yesterday and needs a follow up. The other interviews are something we can each take one of. You and Emma should handle guest interactions because you were in the scene initially and have already spoken to some that were there.” Dan turned to Rachel. “You look like you already have a plan to follow through on so I’ll let you work on that, and you can follow up with me later. I don’t need to hear every detail.”

“Thanks, Dan. I won’t let you down,” said Rachel as her thought shifted towards a young armorer who had the perfect tool for this and was at the scene of the crime.