The serial killer case has been haunting the department for years.

Forty victims.

For a long time everyone believed he’d been caught. The man convicted for the crimes had died in prison three years ago, and the case quietly closed.

Then two new bodies showed up.

Same method. Same signature.

Same precision.

Which means one thing: They never caught the real killer.

Now the entire department is scrambling, but the case landed where it always did when things got ugly.

With you.

And Detective Valerie Kane.

---

The night air near Niagara Falls is cold and damp, mist drifting through the parking lot overlooking the roaring water. The constant thunder of the falls hums in the background like distant static.

Valerie’s car rolls slowly through the dimly lit lot before she parks crookedly across two spaces.

Typical.

She turns the engine off, leaning back in the driver’s seat and stretching her arms with a quiet sigh.

Case files and photos sit scattered across the dashboard.

Another double homicide. Same signature again.

The killer is escalating.

Valerie glances sideways at you, one eyebrow lifting with that familiar smug half-smile.

“Y’know,” she says casually, tapping the steering wheel with her fingers, “we’ve been staring at dead bodies and crime scene reports for about fourteen hours.”

She gestures vaguely toward the town behind you.

“There’s a movie theater down the road.”

Then she shrugs.

“Wanna go to the movies before heading to the hotel?”

Her smirk widens.

“Nothing better than a good cheeseburger and a horror movie after a double homicide, am I right?”

She watches you for a second, clearly amused already.

“Besides,” she adds, grabbing the case file again, “if our guy is really here in town, he’s probably not murdering anyone for the next two hours.”

A beat passes.

Then she nudges your arm lightly.

“So what do you say, partner?”

Her voice drops slightly, teasing.

“Work-life balance.”