It's been a day and half since I first started working with Andrew Softmore.

It's also been that long since I found out he had files on my brother's case.

I've been keeping it to myself that I peeked at the files, but my guilt might get the better of me.

I have never been very good at keeping things secret from people.

I get a sick feeling in my stomach if I'm lying to someone, so I try not to do it often.

Right now, I was in the office; looking over some files while Andrew went out and got us lunch. He said that these were simple cases that could help ease me into detective work. 

I guess it's another test for me....

I let out a sigh.

My eyes skimmed the document for anything that could possibly stand out to me.

Damn....

I rubbed a hand over my eyes, groaning.

I have to stop doing that.

Squinting will just make my sight worse.

I don't need glasses, but the more I squint I have a feeling I'll need them at some point.

I'm not in denial.

I know I don't need them.

My vision is completely fine.

A loud bang from the office door, signaling that Andrew was back and with an attitude as well. From what I gathered in the short time I've been here he's pretty calm and quite intelligent. It seems to take a bit to make him angry.

So, hearing him slam the door was certainly a surprise.

I turn around to see him bring over the lunch he said he'd buy, shrugging his jacket off onto his seat and plopping himself in his seat beside mine.

He handed me a cheeseburger and a can of softdrink which was what I had asked for. I'm surprised he even remembered that that's what I had asked for.

I turned to him, surprised; my mouth inches from my burger. "Why?"

He let an annoyed groan. "We need to investigate a crime scene. The One-Hit Striker is back."

I blinked, frowning at what Andrew told me while taking a bite out of my burger.

The One-Hit Striker?

Where have I heard that name before?

I see now why we needed to investigate....

I winced at the scene before me.

It was horrible....

Gruesome....

What kind of person does this to another human?

I could hardly look at the body.

It was obvious the kind of trauma the victim had been through. They had been hit over the head with a bat of some kind before being stabbed multiple times and then dumped on the side of the road. 

I had quickly read the report before we left and this was a classic case of 'The One-Hit Striker'.

They hit their victims over the head with a bat and then used another method to deter investigators.

It was clever, but also very annoying....

Well, from what I've heard from Andrew at least....

This is weird though.

The span of the original 'One-Hit Striker' killings took place over several years in the nineties.

We don't know how old the culprit was then and how old they'd be now.

Is this a copycat?

But who'd want to recreate a serial killer's killings?

"You're going to be seeing a lot of dead bodies. You might as well get used to it," Andrew mumbled to me as he shuffled away from the body.

I nod my head at his statement. "I know. It's just hard to...." I couldn't get the right words out, but he seemed to understand what I was going to say.

"The first job is always the hardest on detectives. My first case was actually the first murder 'The One Hit Striker' did." I lifted my gaze to him, surprised at his sincerity. "It was a young girl; probably around her senior year at high school." He let out a light groan as if the memory bothered him. "The scene was horrible. She had been strangled and found in a creek nearby her home. Detectives thought it was a suicide gone wrong until they found the indent in the back of her head."

"Which indicated she had been attacked from behind?" I asked him.

He nodded at my question. "Yes. We thought it was just a one time thing until a few weeks later a second murder with different wounds appeared, but a similar indent to the back of the head. We realized then that we had a serial killer out and about killing young people. However, we couldn't do anything due to the lack of evidence." He sounded quite disgruntled at not being able to catch the culprit back then.

I understand the feeling to a degree.

I always had a feeling that my brother's disappearance was weird.

People always said that he just ran away and that's what a lot of teens seem to do, but I never believed it.

What reason would my brother have to run away?

I am a part of this case now, so I need to know these details.

No matter .... how gruesome they are....

He looked as though in thought, probably thinking about that information carefully. "They ranged between 17-24, at most."

"Is there a list of victims?"

I'd need to look over that list and if there were any suspects back then as well.

Andrew nodded his head at me. "Yes, but it's back at the office in the box I brought back from storage."

I nod my head at him, hoping there might be a clue among the victims as to why they were targeted.

If not then it's just senseless killing with no motive....

Then again .... how can you understand the mind of a killer anyway....?

As these thoughts ran through my mind and Andrew headed back over to look over the body once more; my eyes caught something among the crowd of bystanders behind the police tape. A boy with strawberry-blond hair and tired brown eyes was staring at the body almost as if in a trance.

His gaze seemed to lift, meeting my eyes before turning on his heel and leaving.

What just happened?

He looked at the body as if it wasn't supposed to be there....

Though there was something off about him.

He gave off an uneasy feeling.

One I couldn't put my finger on at the moment.

However; his eyes told me he wasn't a threat.

How I can tell I don't know yet.

We'd have to interrogate him to see if he had anything to do with this.

He'd be old enough to be a copycat, but not the original.

That is to say if this is in fact the same killer.