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Disclaimer: This story is purely fictional. Any resemblance to actual individuals or events are purely coincidental.
After a week of working hard, Brooklyn's case numbers had caught up to 70, closing the gap between him and other judges who were at 70-90.
Michael was no longer giving him special treatment, and he began to gradually take on regular cases.
After sending a guy who organized a Ponzi scheme to prison, the assistant quietly informed him that Michael was waiting for him in the office. Brooklyn had to announce an impromptu recess and head to the Chief Judge's office.
As soon as he entered the office, Michael handed him a complaint. "Are you ready to try the murder case?"
Brooklyn was confused. "Can't you just assign it to me without making a big deal out of it?"
"This is different," Michael said, nodding towards the complaint, urging Brooklyn to read it.
Brooklyn looked up at Michael, his expression turning serious, and started reading the complaint.
"Two days ago, the 'Red Devil' impersonator was caught, and the prosecutor's office appointed you to try the case."
"Me?" Brooklyn pointed at himself.
"Yes," Michael confirmed.
"Hasn't he already confessed? What's there to try?"
Brooklyn flipped to the last page of the complaint and pointed at the suspect's signature, asking.
According to the procedure, if a suspect has confessed after being transferred along with the paperwork to the prosecutor's office, they can proceed directly to the sentencing stage, bypassing the trial phase.
For example, in this murder case involving the Red Devil impersonator, the suspect admitted to killing and impersonating the Red Devil's methods, so they could skip the trial and go straight to sentencing.
This case seemed clear-cut, with the suspect's confession aligning with the evidence found by the police. The suspect's description of the crime scene matched the scene, leaving no room for doubt.
First-degree murder, death penalty, or life imprisonment.
No doubt about it!
Brooklyn didn't understand why he needed to try such a clear-cut and undeniable case. Any newly-appointed judge could handle this case, right?
"It's not that simple," Michael said, shaking his head, and handing Brooklyn another document from the drawer.
This is a document that suggests the suspect may be an impersonator and the real killer is still at large. Brooklyn noticed that the document came from a department within the FBI called BAU.
"Criminal Investigation Analysis? Behavioral Analysis Unit? What department is this?" Brooklyn said with a look of disgust.
"Isn't this NYPD's job? Why is the FBI involved?" He instinctively disliked departments like the FBI that seemed like secret police. He didn't quite understand why such departments still existed in the 21st century.
"The FBI didn't get involved. The NYPD Commissioner asked BAU to do the analysis, and the leader of the Homicide Unit insists that their judgment is correct," Michael explained.
Brooklyn understood now. The Commissioner and David had different views on this case. The Commissioner believed there was more to the case than what was known, but there was no evidence, so he invited experts to do an analysis. The expert's conclusion was the same as his own, but David insisted on his own opinion, so the Commissioner compromised.
"Today or tomorrow?" Brooklyn picked up the indictment and asked.
He took on this case not only for David but also because he was personally interested in it. The case of the "Red Devil" returning and the copycat killer had caused a stir in New York recently, and everyone was paying attention to it. Brooklyn had also heard about it. If he could handle this case well, it would bring him many benefits.
"This afternoon," Michael replied.
"OK."
Brooklyn waved to Michael and left the office. He happened to meet Ruby on the way out and politely nodded to her as they passed by. Brooklyn couldn't help but glance back at Ruby.
……
……
Back in the office, Brooklyn called David as soon as he could.
"What's up with the Red Devil imitator?"
Straight to the point, Brooklyn asked as soon as the call connected.
"You're presiding over the case?"
David quickly caught on and briefly recounted the situation.
"Half a month ago, the first victim was found. The method and crime scene fit the Red Devil's pattern. We immediately launched an investigation."
"We screened the Red Devil's letters and focused on his fans."
"Wait." Brooklyn interrupted, incredulous. "The Red Devil, that murderer with a mental disorder, has fans?"
"Of course, he has fans and quite a lot of them. There are even fan clubs all over the country. There's even someone in the prison who is responsible for reviewing the Red Devil's letters."
"This is not uncommon, Brooklyn."
"Why? Why does a murderer have so many fans while I, an honest judge, only have a few thousand followers on Twitter?"
Brooklyn was not pleased. The federal system was strange, choosing to follow a murderer instead of an upstanding citizen.
"You could have had a fan club too, but you gave up."
David joked.
"If having a fan club means going to prison, then forget it," Brooklyn muttered, continuing his question. "So what did you find out?"
"Nothing, it's not that simple."
"His fans are too numerous. We can only narrow it down to New York State."
"But this imitator entered an excited phase after the first case and became bolder, committing more crimes. His excitement threshold also kept rising."
"We interrogated the Red Devil, but he was difficult to deal with and uncooperative."
"On the seventh day of the imitation, he was no longer satisfied with just imitating the Red Devil and upgraded his methods."
"We used this to find a breakthrough from the Red Devil and finally identified the suspect."
"Did the Red Devil tell you?" Brooklyn asked, criticizing the name Red Devil.
"Who named him that? Doesn't he have a real name? Did his parents really give him the name Red Devil? That's really strange."
"The Red Devil's real name is Harn, and his fans named him that."
"Yes, the Red Devil told us. He gave us the suspect's characteristics and the target for the next crime, so we set up the scene in advance and captured the suspect on the spot."
David was clearly proud of the accomplishment, even though his voice was tired.
Brooklyn began to think and warned, "David, don't be too happy. Be prepared to restart the investigation."
David's laughter stopped abruptly. After a moment of silence, his voice came through faintly.
"You also read the expert opinion from the boss?"
"Yeah."
"Do you also think the Red Devil is playing us?"
"I'm not sure. David, I'm just a judge. My job is to sentence the defendant according to the law. It's up to you to bring the right defendant to court."
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