The Killer I Know Chapter 9

Suddenly, a noise came from the bedroom. Daniel's police instincts kicked in.

"There's someone else in the house."

Holding the knife, he walked into the bedroom, following the sound to the closet.

He knocked on the closet door first. Sure enough, a sound came from inside.

I walked into the bedroom. Daniel signaled me to stay quiet, and I complied. I guessed it was Ethan toying with him.

Daniel tentatively and slowly pulled open the closet door and saw the hidden door—the "door" connecting my apartment to the one across the hall.

He looked at me in shock, and I returned the same expression.

He paused, then turned to walk toward that hidden door.

I quickly walked up behind him and injected an anesthetic into his neck.

He collapsed instantly.

I looked up and exchanged smiles with Ethan on the other side of the hidden door.

At 11:30 PM on the 24th, Daniel regained consciousness.

His hands and feet were already bound inside the closet. He struggled continuously, the sound of his limbs hitting the closet door drawing me in.

I opened the closet door.

He was clearly shocked, staring straight at me, his eyes full of confusion.

And I was ecstatic.

"Claire?" His tone held both question and fear.

"Mm-hmm."

Ethan dragged two chairs in from outside and handed one to me. "Sit."

"You two have been in contact all along?" Daniel couldn't believe it.

I sat down, took a light breath, looked coldly at Daniel's predicament, and said indifferently, "Law enforcement prodigy, tell me your theory."

Daniel was quiet for a few seconds, staring at me. His eyes held no malice, just disbelief.

His Adam's apple trembled slightly. "Today is the 24th, or rather, it's already the 25th. So I'm the eighth victim—your Number Eight."

I looked at him, smiled slightly, and shook my head. "No, you're Number Ten."

"What?"

"I said, you're Number Ten. The tenth person I've killed."

"You killed others that the police never discovered?"

"Mm-hmm." I proudly turned to look at Ethan.

"Claire!" Daniel shouted. I stood up, glared at him, and shouted back, "My name isn't Claire!"

Daniel was even more confused.

Ethan tapped his watch face. "Twenty-four minutes left."

"The law enforcement prodigy isn't much after all."

Daniel gradually calmed down. "You planned all of this?"

"Of course."