There was a small grin on Sunggyu's face when he entered the main office. True, he still had much work to finish for the day, and the stress over this Mockingbird case hadn't completely disappeared. But he was feeling quite a bit better after his talk with Woohyun- the head man was actually looking forward to their little date (but shhhh, don't let Woohyun know).

"You seem like you're in a nice mood," the head secretary, Park Jooyeon, commented as he walked past her desk.

Sunggyu looked over his shoulder and shrugged. "I've got good plans for tonight." He didn't say anything more than that, though, and simply continued along on his way.

"There's a package in your mail box, by the way!" Jooyeon called after him. "It was dropped off about ten minutes ago, so you wouldn't have gotten it in the morning."

Thanking her, Sunggyu headed over to what they called 'The Postal Area'. It was basically just a wall with built-in cabinets, where the administrators could organize their mail in labelled cubbies.

A shoebox-sized box was waiting in the Boss' cubbyhole. When he spotted it, Sunggyu frowned. What was that? He hadn't been expecting anything to come in the mail for him. Feeling a bit confused, the Seoul CSI head took the box and walked towards his private office. He could open it up in there.

The lights had been turned off. Sunggyu paused to flicker the switch on, then sat down in his chair. He plopped the box on top of his desk and stared at it. Hmm... Had he...? No. No, he was certain he wasn't supposed to be receiving a parcel of any kind.

Sunggyu picked up his scissors. But before cutting the flaps apart, he glanced briefly at the postal code. To Kim Sunggyu, Director of Seoul's CSI Force, the label read. It was followed by the company's address, as well as... Wait. Hold on a second...

The Boss furrowed his brows. Picking up the box, he carefully examined all six sides of it before setting it back on his desk.

There was no return address to be seen anywhere.

'That's strange,' Sunggyu thought. He debated on whether or not he should risk opening the suspicious parcel. Who knew what dangerous thing could be inside of it? But in the end, he picked up his scissors and cut the tape anyway. If it had gotten past the metal detector at the front doors, then it was probably safe enough to open alone.

Sunggyu pulled the flaps out of the way and peered in the box. It had a heavy layer of tissue paper on top, concealing what was nestled in the bottom. Feeling even more bemused, the man moved the tissue out of the way to see what had been sent to him with such secrecy. A muffin basket? Office decorations? Or maybe Woohyun had sent him some Playboy  magazines, in an effort to persuade his friend to take more of a 'break' (as it had happened before, it wouldn't come as much of a surprise now).

Shaking his head, Sunggyu pulled the last bits of tissue out of the way. If this was indeed Woohyun's package, then he would later drink to his heart's content and let the jokester suffer the financial consequences. Sunggyu looked inside of the box again. His mind was half apprehensive, half suspicious, wondering what on earth could be inside of this package-

"What the hell?"

----------

"It's about time you got here. What took you so long?"

Myungsoo waved away Youngjae's mildly irritable question. "It's only been ten minutes, you know. Sorry anyway; I was getting my notes from my office. I stopped to talk a bit with Sungjong, too." He didn't mention what he had been conversing with his friend about, though. It didn't seem quite relevant to the matter at hand.

Grabbing an empty seat, Myungsoo set his binder down and glanced around. Originally, Sunggyu had assigned only him and Sungyeol to update their suspect list, so he was surprised to see the room wasn't quite as empty as he'd thought it would be. A few computers away from his partner was Hoya, who was typing furiously into his keyboard. Beside him was Kris. The height-gifted male was frowning absentmindedly while reading database research notes.

"What are you guys doing here?" Myungsoo asked. "I thought you were leading the second round of interrogations."

"We were," Hoya said without looking away from his computer. "But then we decided to switch jobs with Chen. He has a way of getting information out of people with that laid-back smile of his; it's kind of creepy. We figured maybe he'd have more success with the questioning than us."

"Fair enough." Myungsoo pulled himself closer to his desk. Sungyeol looked at him with watchful eyes, but said nothing. Trying not to comment, the dark-haired agent quickly typed his user ID and password into the system. "Youngjae, this computer won't crash like it did last time, will it? I'd hate to start over again in the middle of my search."

The intelligence agent sniffed. "Of course not," he said. He was obviously still miffed about Myungsoo's late entrance (Youngjae was a stickler for punctuality). "I scanned the system for viruses and found the one causing the overload lag. I refreshed the anti-virus software, so everything should be fine now."

"Thanks. I just want to get this done as soon as possible." Myungsoo turned towards Sungyeol as Youngjae walked away. The newcomer was still looking at him, ignoring his own computer which he'd set up prior to Myungsoo's arrival.

Myungsoo nodded at his thick pile of case files. "So we do the same thing as before. Only this time, we need to broaden our range. You look for those with a record of having done anything similar to our killer. I'll try to find convicts with a history of extreme trauma or abuse, and see if I can connect them to the murders."

Sungyeol mirrored Myungsoo's actions and nodded, but kept his gaze focused on his senior.

Feeling more than slightly self-conscious, Myungsoo frowned. "Can I help you?" he asked. He wondered what it was keeping the rookie from starting on his task. Did he have a coffee mustache on his face or something?

A minute passed before he was given a reply.

"You can say what's on your mind. It's never good to keep things bottled up."

"... What?" Myungsoo blinked. "Err... Sorry. I'm not quite getting what you're saying."

Sungyeol gave a light shrug. "If you have something you want to discuss, then say it. I could tell from your face when you walked in that something was bothering you."

This time, it was Myungsoo's turn to stare. "There might be something on my mind," he said after a pause. "But... It's this weird feeling I have. I'm pretty sure it's just a gut feeling about the case..." With careful words, the agent tried to explain what had been bothering him. It was like a Take Two  of earlier, only this time it was Sungyeol whom he was talking to.

When he had finished, Sungyeol sent a sharp, guarded expression his way. "Sometimes, intuition can play a big role," he said quietly. "More so than you think. Perhaps you should try looking at things with this innate view of yours."

"I know," Myungsoo slowly said. "You're right about that. But- It's- I don't know. This is really hard to explain. Am I the only one who thinks this case is somehow familiar?"

"You're not the only one."

At the sound of this new voice, Myungsoo looked over his shoulder at the source of interruption. It was Kris. The sandy-haired man was frowning thoughtfully, leaning back on his chair to look around Hoya and at Myungsoo.

"There's a weird thought I've had for a few days now," Kris continued, "Much like with you, Myungsoo. I didn't think much of it at first, but lately, it's been nagging at me more and more. I- Hmm. How to say this..." He hesitated, but plowed ahead anyway.

"There's something about these murders that seems- No, I'm certain- is familiar. We've seen this before; I'm sure of it. I just can't pinpoint where  and when, or even how. And the birds are the key link. If we could decode the meaning behind them-"

Beep.

"All agents involved in the Mockingbird case, report to Conference Room Eleven immediately. I repeat, all agents involved in the Mockingbird case, you are to report to Conference Room Eleven. Right now."

Hoya, who had paused in his maniac typing to listen to the announcement, furrowed his brows. "Hey, wasn't that Sunggyu's voice?"

"It was." Momentarily forgetting about their conversation, Myungsoo twisted in his seat to glance at the P.A. System speaker. "He sounded stressed, even more than he was at the first meeting. I wonder what he wants us for?"

"Who knows?" Kris, too, stared at the intercom before rising out of his seat. "Come on, we can finish our discussion later. It sounds like Sunggyu will explode if we keep him waiting for too long."

-----------

The doors to Conference Room Eleven were open by the time Myungsoo and the others arrived. Voices could be heard from inside, the words becoming more and more audible as they approached the room.

"- that little er. Are you kidding  me?"

"I know; it shocked me as well. But a part of me almost agrees with the killer. How did we not notice it before?"

The group of agents entered the room. Surprisingly, it wasn't as crowded as they'd expected it to be. Only two people were seen inside: Sunggyu, who was standing at the front as usual, and Woohyun, who was slumped down in a nearby seat.

Taking a glance around, Hoya settled in a chair himself. "Where is everyone? I thought you wanted all of us to be here."

"They're busy," Sunggyu answered. Myungsoo couldn't help but notice the tense note in his voice. Whatever had happened, it had definitely made the Boss more stressed than before. "They're all out either investigating or questioning. But forget about that- we can fill them in later."

The Boss waited until they had seated themselves before continuing. "I'll skip the small talk and get straight to the point. We've been contacted by the Mockingbird Killer."

"What?"  everybody exclaimed in unison. Well, everybody except for Woohyun and Sungyeol. Since Woohyun had made it to the meeting before them, he'd already been informed upon arrival. In Sungyeol's case, he just didn't have much of a reaction to anything.

With a grave nod, Sunggyu picked a sheet of paper off the table. "Half an hour ago, I collected the mail in my post box. There was a small package waiting in there, written to me and without a return address. I did think it was suspicious, but seeing as it got past front security, I assumed it would be safe to open."

He passed around the paper for the others to see. "In it were exactly five items: one note from the killer, printouts of three newspaper articles, and one dead bird. A premature mimus polyglottos, like the ones found on the three victims.

"The original contents are being analysed for fingerprints and whatnot," Sunggyu continued. "However, I took note of what the message was, and also found the same articles online. It won't be long until we can get photocopies of the originals, but until then, make do with this."

Hoya took a long look at the paper. "'YOU'RE A SLOW BUNCH'," he read. "'I THOUGHT YOU'D HAVE KNOWN BY NOW.'" Creasing his brows, he handed the sheet over to Kris.

"What does that mean? What are we supposed to know?"

"I asked myself the same thing," Sunggyu replied. "But then, I took a look at the articles that were included in the box. After reading each one of them through..." He picked up a few more papers and distributed them like he had with the first.

"We now know the meaning behind the mockingbirds."

"It's pretty sickening," Woohyun added his own two cents. "But clever, too, in a twisted kind of way. Youngjae was right when he said this guy is a clever bastard."

Myungsoo glanced down at the sheet Woohyun had given him. It was a printout of a newspaper article, dated back to 1888. Jack the Ripper Strikes Again, the headline read. The agent's eyes travelled further down to the middle of the page. They rested on a short paragraph describing how the crime scene had been found:


                    The unidentifiable female had been dead for some time. Her lower abdomen had been
                    mercilessly attacked, slashed until most of her organs came spilling out. After the attack,
                    it is presumed that Jack the Ripper immediately withdrew from the scene. He left the corpse
                    sprawled out on the ground, in front of the building that is known as our Holy Church. Must
                    he go so far as to make a mockery of our faith?

As he read these words, Myungsoo felt a jolt run down his spine. The nagging feeling which he'd mentioned before appeared yet again. Hastily, the agent reread that section of the article. His mind was racing a mile a minute. Was it...? No way. Could it be...?

It was.

"Holy ," he swore aloud.

Sunggyu glanced at him with grim satisfaction. "Seems like one person's figured it out."

"Are you serious?"  Myungsoo waved the paper around in agitation. "I can't believe it. It's so damn obvious  now that I think about it. I knew there was something wrong, but... Dammit. Why didn't we figure it out before? Is that why- Christ. Quick, let me read the other articles."

Sungyeol gave him the papers that he'd finished reading. Judging by the knowing expression on his face, it was safe to assume he'd puzzled it out as well.

"Sorry, but do you mind telling us what you found?" Hoya looked from Myungsoo to his boss in bewilderment. "Or at least give us copies of the articles. We didn't get a chance to read them yet."

"You'd probably get it after just seeing the headlines," Woohyun told him. Kris was peering over Myungsoo's shoulder to read the printouts. As he did, a look of realization began dawning on his face. "Like Myungsoo said, it's so ing obvious, I'm almost ashamed to call myself an inspector."

"." This time, it was Kris who'd mouthed the profanity. He snapped his head up to stare at Sunggyu. "I thought there was something familiar about the case. But this... This is it? This is the pattern we've been looking for?"

"In a way, yes," Sunggyu answered. "It's one of the patterns which we've been looking for. The pattern of his killing. The pattern to explain why his style is so erratic."

Picking up the first article, Myungsoo reached over and tossed it to Hoya. "Take a look at that. That's one about Jack the Ripper, also known as Whitechapel Murderer. Most likely you've heard of him- he was a famous serial killer in London. I know you weren't there on the day we got sent out, but... Just read it. The second last paragraph in the middle column."

Hoya read the words out loud. "Slashed until her organs... Sprawled out on the ground... Holy Church..." The frown was still on his face as he glanced up from the article.

"So? What does this have to do with our case?"

It was Sungyeol who answered his question. "That was exactly how Lee Minhee was found," he said quietly.

"Now read this." Kris took a sheet from Myungsoo's hand and gave it to his partner. This article was a little more recent than the one about London's celebrity killer. At the top righthand corner, the year 1918  could be seen in faded ink.

"'Sydney, Australia- It seems that the Builder has come to play again. After two years of laying low, the notorious Aussie serial killer struck the home of Mr. Bryan McDonnell. McDonnell, 59, was found dead in his home by his teenage son. Like the previous five victims of the Builder, McDonnell had been first killed by a discreet bullet, then dismembered limb-by-limb. The Builder lived up to his name by proceeding to neatly rearrange the body pieces. Further inquiries to be made.'" Hoya slowly looked up from the printout. His knuckles had turned white from gripping the paper so hard; it matched the sudden pale pallor of his cheeks.

"Son Taehyun," were his only words.

"Son Taehyun and Bryan McDonnell. They're like mirror reflections," Kris said tersely. "Both were found in the exact same way, limb position and all."

Sunggyu motioned towards the last article. "And we all know how Lee Seonwoong was discovered. I'll save you the trouble and tell you what that story's about. In 1944, a new killer made himself known in Wittenberg, Germany. His name was Bertram Fuhrmann. If I remember correctly, he himself murdered about nine people. Anyway, since we know how Seonwoong was found, we know what Fuhrmann's style of killing is without having to read the article- attacking first with an iron bat, then taking out the brain matter of the dead victim."

"We also know that serial killers won't stop unless they're caught," Woohyun chimed in. "I'm ready to bet my paycheck that our guy is waiting to zero in on his next target. And that  murder is going to follow the steps of some other previously well-known killing."

"The Mockingbird Killer," Sungyeol mused. He sounded incredibly calm compared to the other agents, as if they hadn't just discovered a big breakthrough. "Mockingbirds are known for their ability to imitate other animals' sounds. I suppose the killer liked this fact enough to take on its alias. The Mockingbird Killer. He copies legendary murders of the past and leaves a copycat bird in its wake."

There was a moment of silence as the agents processed this stunning revelation. Not for the first time that day, Myungsoo wanted to hit himself. So that  was what his weird feeling was all about! No wonder it had been bothering him so much. He had known about the Whitechapel Murderer before; he had heard about the Builder and Fuhrmann, as well. It maddened him that he hadn't spotted this pattern earlier.

Perhaps Sungyeol was a bit of a psychic, because at that moment, he slid his gaze over to Myungsoo. "I told you. Intuition."

"Wha-" Recovering from his stupefied state, the dark-haired man returned Sungyeol's stare. "I'm sorry," he said somewhat sarcastically, "But our assigned tasks may have been keeping me a bit. If I had known how significant the murders were, I would have worked on linking them  instead of building our suspect list."

"Hold on a second." Woohyun swiveled in his chair to look indignantly at Myungsoo. "Are you saying you knew about this? You knew about the meaning behind the birds and murder style, but you kept it to yourself?"

"I didn't exactly know , actually. And we were all too busy looking for the killer himself, weren't we?" Myungsoo shot back.

"Myungsoo, you're an idiot." Woohyun shook his head. "How many times do I have to tell you that an investigation lead is 10% fact and 90% instinct?"

"That's Yongguk  who always says that, you ! Stop trying to take credit from other people!"

"Okay, enough!" Kris intervened. He sent sharp, disapproving glares at the pair of bickering friends. "Myungsoo, seeing as I had the exact same thoughts as you, I can't blame you for anything. I can't blame anyone, really. I guess it's more of the fact that we weren't even close to uncovering this crucial fact sooner."

Finally having seen all three articles, Hoya released a deep, frustrated breath. "I feel the same way, Kris, but a part of me has to disagree. Most of us wouldn't have known if our guy hadn't sent us this little gift." He pointed at the papers which he'd spread out on the table.

"The 'Jack the Ripper' one is pretty obvious. He was famous for murdering female es in the late 1800's. He was never caught, but there are over 100 theories today about his identity. I don't think there's an inspector in the world who hasn't heard of this guy."

"Australia's 'The Builder' and Germany's Fuhrmann are also famous, yes," Sunggyu added, "But they're mainly known in the respective countries of the killers. If we've ever heard of them here in Korea, it would have been because of the Academy or research reports. Nothing grand like it was with the Ripper."

"Still..." It was evident that Kris was mentally berating himself (and possibly the other agents on the case, as well). "I  knew about them. Myungsoo  knew about them. If we had just figured it out sooner... We've wasted so much time as it is!"

Sunggyu sighed. "Well, now we know. Let's not worry too much about the past. We need to focus on catching this guy as soon as possible."

Another silence settled in the room. It was very brief, however, as Woohyun chose to break it a few seconds after. "You should have listened to me, Myungsoo. 10% fact, 90% instinct."

The ravenet rolled his eyes. Not bothering to argue back, he turned around to take the printouts back from Hoya. But as he did, he noticed something in the corner of his eye that struck him as rather odd.

Sungyeol was staring at him again. While it could have been brushed off as normal, there was a look in his eyes that made Myungsoo do a double-take. It could only be described as something close to longing, almost like wistfulness, flickering in his eyes like a dying, withering candle flame.

[A/N]  Most likely you've heard of Jack the Ripper, the first killer I've mentioned above (as weird as this sounds, he's honestly my favourite serial killer, just because the mystery and his unknown identity are so intriguing). The short article about him, however, is what I made up. The others, the Builder and Bertram Fuhrmann, are also fake. I've created those two so they could fit the plot.