In all her time studying, chasing, and putting serial killers in jail, Ruby had never seen this level of murder idolatry in person.

“This is crazy,” Ruby said to Gabe, “this has to be some kind of evidence.”

“You broke my damn door,” Thorne said.

“We'll be fine,” April said. “I'm getting a lawyer, if you want to know the truth. We've been doing this for a year now. We've done all sorts of crimes. I've done multiple murders. He's done a few murders. We're never going to stop. It's just a hobby.”

“You look upset,” Thorne said to Ruby. “I know it's hard to accept, but that's all it is. A hobby.”

He was right. Ruby couldn't blindly accept that her victim's ex just happened to fake-stab women as a hobby.

Brow furrowed, she looked back at April, studying the stage blood stains on her dress. April put her hands on her hips, revealing the full familiar pattern. Like a constellation. Ruby could trace that pattern in her sleep.

“What murder were you re-enacting, exactly?” Ruby asked, already knowing the answer.

“Lucky Thirteen,” April replied matter-of-factly, “look him up. He's pretty well-known.”

Ruby could've laughed. Look him up. What would they say if she told them she'd sat across from the subject of their obsession?

“April, please,” Thorne sighed.

“One of both our favorites,” April said.

Ruby walked over to April and examined her arms.

“April, I have a few questions,” Ruby said, turning back to Thorne. “Both of you.”

“You can't do this,” April said. “This is biased treatment.”

“Shut up,” Thorne said to her, then returned his attention to Ruby and Gabe. “You can't arrest us just because we played around a bit.”

“Played around?” Ruby said, her rage simmering. “Do you think I don't know what I'm looking at here? A woman is dead, and you re-enact it as a hobby.”

“If you're looking at this stuff,” April said, “you'll see that it's all fake. I mean, come on, how can you take this seriously?”

“Oh, I take it very seriously,” Ruby said, “because I've got a dead woman with identical stab wounds, and I have a hard time believing that's a coincidence.”

Thorne's eyes widened.

“Alannah?” he said, “she died like this?”

“Yes, Alannah,” Ruby said, “can you see that would put you in a compromising position, Brett?”

Thorne's eyes darted around nervously, mostly at Gabe, imposing and intimidating in this context. Ruby suspected this was the kind of stuff he lived for. Storming in, cuffing the bad guy. To Gabe's credit, he did that well. It was like Thorne couldn’t decide how to feel. Excited, scared, upset, or perhaps, all of it an elaborate act, just like his staged crime scene.

“I didn't even know her,” April protested.

“You're coming with us,” Ruby said, “I want forensics down here to deal with the rest of this.”