BBDW 43 [Black Butterfly] - Nevereverland
"-Is this really okay?”
"They told us to do it, what can we do
about it."
"Oh, my God, I should have opposed it
until the end."
Biting his lips, Tim jumped up from his
couch. Glancing at the restless figure, Jude only managed to take a big sigh.
What has been decided after such a long meeting
was straightforward, but it made Jude's head throbs. The rationale for the conclusion
of the meeting was simple: 'Let's expose the location of Jude.' The copycat
chased Jude, and Alvin Jones chased the copycat, so they said, if we release the
location of Jude properly, we'll be able to put the two together in the same
place. -It was a conventional method, but Tim strongly refuted it, calling it a
"false logic." Where is the guarantee that Alvin Jones won't be able
to find the copycat until the copycat comes to Jude, and if they gather
together in the same place, how do we know what it's going to look like, and
how do we intend to handle the consequences?
But there wasn't much the police could do. Without
even knowing the identity of the copycat, the methods that could be taken were
extremely limited. Under silent pressure, Jude had no choice but to acquiesce,
so he has been staying in Tim’s house for about four days now, and since the old apartment where Jude lived was structured with no escape exits properly
secured, he had no choice.
"This is such a ridiculous trap. I
don't know how he's gonna get caught..."
"Tim, that's enough. Sit down. It's
distracting. Well, they assured me not to worry, so everything will be fine.
They don't carry badges around for nothing. Any evidence to identify the
copycat? From the body."
"Well, I haven't heard that yet. He
killed a person then claims to be Alvin Jones, wouldn't that mean he wants to
be recognized as Alvin Jones? I don't think there's any reason to leave his
fingerprints. And in the case of copycat crimes, it's more difficult because
very few personal traits are revealed in the crime. I don't know why he wants
to be like him. Isn't it normal to feel creeps out when there is such a human
being?"
"Well, there's a lot of freak in the
world. By the way, he knows when and how the copycat will come and he'll keep
an eye on me here. What if the "I will step back for a while" in the letter was
meant to be for months. I'm fine living here, but to those people who work out there……"
He was going to say, 'It's pretty much a
nuisance,' but the cell phone cried in his pocket. Looking carefully at the
unregistered phone number, Jude casually pressed the accept call button.
"Yes, this is Jude."
[......how do you feel?]
"Uh... Not very good."
The man's voice was hoarse. It was hard to
guess his age because of the tone of his voice, but it was not a very good
voice to hear. He only shrugged his shoulders to Tim who asked him who he was,
and the man’s voice scraped his ears again.
[I don't think you'll feel good under the threat of death, but I recommend you to enjoy it a little before it’s going to
happen.]
"Are you the one who wrote the letter?
A copycat of Alvin Jones?"
As he deliberately emphasized the ‘copycat',
the sound beyond the cell phone was silent for a moment. A hoarse sound came
out quickly as Tim, beset by Jude's words, was about to pick up his cell phone.
[Oh, I think it's better to warn your
partner. Be aware that a single movement of my finger could blow your head off.]
"Tim, Tim, wait, stop."
With a quick wave of his hand to divert Tim’s
attention, Jude gestured his head out of the window, forming a small gun with
his thumb and index finger. Looking out of the dark window with a startled
look, Tim reluctantly put down the cell phone he had in his hand.
"Are you a sniper? Your identity
conditions are narrowed down drastically. Profilers will love it."
[I've been training as much as I need.]
"So, you came to kill me with that?
It's not Alvin Jones' style. Or are you regretting sending a letter first and
threatening me?"
[No, I'm not going to kill you with this.
If things go wrong, I could kill your partner. Think of it as the end justifies the means. I just want to talk to you for a while today, so I'll be happy
if you don't say a word.]
"Typical, but okay, I'll admit it's
effective. Tell me, I'm good at counselling."
[......I think I know a little bit about how you
managed to catch him.]
"That's a compliment, isn't it?"
[......interpret as you like. You must have
already known that Alvin Jones wasn't the one who wrote the letter. How did you
know?]
"Your vocabulary and behaviour are a
bit different. Oh, I'm even more curious. Why did you name Alvin Jones? No, I
mean, if it's a crime committed with a grudge, we can treat it as a copycat
crime, but I don't understand your case. Why did you have to name him? Do you
like it that way?"
[Alvin Jones. Alvin Jones.]
He slowly repeated Alvin's name. With a voice
that pronounces it as carefully as if savouring the name, soon he began to
speak with a tremor.
[Doesn't that name appeal to you? Don't you
know what power that name has in this society? It's not just a murderer's name;
it's a collection of all the inscrutable fears and malice in this society. It
is said that the "Bad Seed" theory where evil people exist from birth
is only an illusion, but he is the closest person people have ever seen. Good
life in an ordinary family, isn't it?]
"Oh, yeah. That's great. So
what?"
[The name has become an icon, a pronoun
that encompasses the dark things of this age. Like Jack the Ripper in England. If
you think about it, this is more stimulating. He's different from the clumsy
serial killers who simply stab prostitutes with a knife and give off sexual
impulses.]
"Oh, yeah. That’s awesome. And then?"
[I'll take over the name.]
The voice was shaking, but it was trembling
for joy and excitement, not for negative emotions such as fear. Had that man's
gun had a laser sight attached to it, would that red light be shaking too? No,
actually, it's a little questionable whether he’s really aiming the gun
outside. While muttering inwardly, Jude quietly listened.
[I don't know why, but he's not in action
right now. I don't know if he's dead, or if he's no longer interested in
murder, but then I wouldn't have a problem keeping his name. Isn't that right?
What's wrong with being at the centre of the same level of fear as Alvin Jones?
Alvin Jones might be interested, too.]
Actually, the person who might be
interested is now looking to kill you. Swallowing back the words that had
come up to his throat, Jude nodded to Tim who had a very nervous face, saying
it was okay.
[I'm slowly getting myself equal to him now.
In fact, I'm about to rip another person off before I kill you. I haven't set a
target yet, but it doesn't matter who in the sense of polishing the skills
more. Oh, and this time I'll allow the police to take a look at the process because they need to know that the Alvin Jones concept is reviving. By the time
it's over and I feel like my skills are almost perfect, I'll be looking for
you.]
"Well, that doesn't sound very
pleasant."
[You're the last gateway I'm going to go
through because you were the one who got rid of the fear that engulfed this
city for once instance. Do you understand? I…..]
A little excited voice left a gap for a
while. The unstable voice, which was split here and there, was strangely clear
to Jude.
[- I will be complete by killing you.]
"Isn't this a complete turn? He’s
going to kill you and become Alvin Jones?"
In response to the message from the copycat
carried by Jude the next morning, the Chief spat it out in a chilling voice. Suffering
from severe sleep deprivation for the past few days, he frowned slightly under
his darkened eyes. While Tim also looked at Jude with uncomfortable eyes, the
blond detective shrugged his shoulders.
"Uh, Chief. That's not what’s
important."
"What do you mean, it's not important?
What's more important than a life-threatening situation?"
"He said he'd kill another one before
he kills me."
"Also, he said he would
consider the police to see the process.”
When Tim helped to explain, a long sigh came
from the Chief's mouth. In the life of an ordinary police officer, there is
very little chance of encountering brutal field photographs. Unless you're an
FBI agent in charge of such cases, there can't be many instances where you have
to chase after serial killers who seem to be out of the human category. It was
natural for the Chief to feel uncomfortable now that even a copycat of such a
man appeared.
"Well, what, he’s going to do a live demonstration
in front of the police station?"
"Well, I don't know for now, but maybe
he'll send a video."
"Oh, I'm going crazy. All we can do is
strengthen the patrol, knowing that someone could die? I'd be so relieved if
people knew."
"Well, sir."
At the sound of a rookie police officer calling him,
the Chief, who jerked his head with a face full of hostility toward the world, made
him flinch. "Why?"--The newcomer, who stood on his watch for a moment
as if he was sapped when the tired voice asking sharply, soon mumbled and
presented a box to the Chief.
"Here, there's a package."
"By the way, well. Do you want me to sign
the delivery man? You can do it, can’t you?"
"No, it wasn't delivered... it was
just on the back door. Just in case it's an important thing….."
"No one delivered it? It doesn't even
have a name on it?"
The Chief's eyes were not very good, and the newcomer glanced at him and held out a piece of paper he had held in his hand.
"It doesn't have a name on it. It only
had initials on it. It's A. J."
"A. J.? Give it to me!"
Hurriedly snatching the box from the
rookie's hand, the Chief placed it on the desk. To the Chief, who was holding
the edge of the tape attached to it, Tim spoke in a slightly anxious voice.
"Will it be all right? The possibility
that it's dangerous..."
"He wants to be recognized by us that
he looks like Alvin Jones, so he won't do anything unexpected. There's no
reason to kill people who will pay attention to him, it's okay. Open up, let’s
see what it is."
Jude's insincere remarks made the Chief,
who had paused, tore the tape off. Appearing amid a couple of
anxious gazes, was only a dull-lit laptop. When the Chief took out the laptop
with a careful hand and put it on the desk, another note on the bottom of the
box appeared. The bold characters with the same thickness as the initials earlier were conveying brief instructions.
- 9 p.m. Wait with the laptop on. I'll show
you something good.
"......that means......"
The Chief was a little out of breath. Just
like feeling an excessive increase in blood pressure, his forehead turned red.
"......he already picked out the next
victim?"
"Well, maybe."
"Damn it, I told them not to walk
around so late at night on the news! Who the hell did he take?!"
"I hate to say this, sir. But over 1.5
million people live in New York City alone, and many of them work at night, and
from his point of view, there are plenty of choices, and we don't even know who
he is."
"So?"
Looking into the eyes of the middle-aged
man wide open with an ominous premonition, Jude shrugged once.
"Until he shows it, it's incredibly
difficult to figure out who he took."
* * *
Thanks for the update ❤️💯
ReplyDeleteAnd your recommendations are good i alr read watched them i can't wait for season two of moriarty next year
Hahah you're welcome (っ∩_∩)っ I'm excited for S2 as well (ง'̀-'́)ง
DeleteI just finished reading all of the available chapters and wow 😍 this story is awesome 🥰 thank you so much for translating this magnificent story for us ❤ by the way, Merry Xmas ☃️❤😘
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome ( ๑>ᴗ<๑ ) I'm glad you found this gem ehehe. Well, I don't celebrate Xmas but Merry Xmas anyway (・◡・)ノ♡
DeleteThank you for the chapter ❤️
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome <( ̄︶ ̄)>
DeleteI get what the translator is saying. I'm honestly very uncomfortable how people simply filtered out how the ML is a serial killer just bc his murders haven't really been made the center of attention so far. The author only stated Alvin is a serial killer, a psychopath, who murdered his victims in brutal ways but only gave vague descriptions of said ways. The attention is being driven to the other cases and the interaction between the MC and ML.
ReplyDeleteBut I personally simply can't get over the fact that ML is a serial killer! He murdered people! He killed at least six (I think they said they found six bodies in his basement?) people! That's at least six human lives that were snuffed out in terrible ways. His amiable ways of speaking to MC is not stopping me from thinking of his brutality and lethality.
The only little redeemable point would be if the people he killed were people who bullied the MC. For example, so far I assume that the child that Brown woman confessed to have locked in a locker might have been Jude before he lost his memory. So my outline so far is that Jude and Alvin were friends (with at least Alvin having more feelings than friendship). Jude was getting bullied at school and/or home. Something big happened, like Jude's family killed each other or something along those lines, and that led to Jude, who saw everything, getting shocked and wondering the streets as he lost his memory bc of psychological stress. Then Alvin starts killing the ones who bullied Jude. Either all the way since he was younger, or something triggered him as a grown up.