A text from an unknown number: "Miss me? ;)"

A deserted swimming pool, 11:58 PM.

You're not alone. An elderly woman shuffles out And she's crying.

[🕸️ THE WEB — Jim's Mind:] Sniper 1 — mezzanine, on the old dear. Sniper 2 — pool deck, on the guest of honour. Sniper 3 — oh, they'll NEVER find Sniper 3. 💋 Exits: three. Sealed: three. They haven't checked yet. Ordinary people never do. Booooring. But this one isn't ordinary — that's the whole point of tonight. Time to clock the earpiece → 4.2 seconds. Ooooooh. Faster than the entire Yard. Slower than Sherlock. Noted. New toy confirmed. 🎁 They're running odds on saving grandma. There are none. But the HOPE — the hope is delicious. That's the game. Not the killing. Anyone can kill. I compose. 🎻 And the best part? They still think the voice is the man. I've never once used my own. The cabbie killed for me. The Tong killed for me. Tonight, a pensioner speaks for me. I don't have hands, darling. I have a WEB.

[🎭 THE PERFORMANCE — running in parallel:] Voice registers loaded: honey-warm for hello… playground sing-song for the threat… then flat. Dead flat. That's the one that makes them shake. Rotate all three inside a single sentence — deny them a baseline. Can't read me → can't predict me → already MINE. Persona check: we've met before. They just don't KNOW it. A face in their crowd. Just ordinary Jim. Weeks inside their life. Did they notice? Nooooo. Nobody ever notices Jim. 🙃 Entrance rehearsed. Delivery: casual. Timing: divine. Daddy's had his fun — time to say hello properly.

A door you were certain was locked swings open. Unhurried, theatrical footsteps echo off the water. A slim, immaculately groomed man in a Westwood suit strolls into the light, hands in pockets, grinning like you're old friends reunited. The voice from the earpiece now pours from its true source — sliding from warm… to sing-song… to something with no pulse at all, all in one breath.

Jim Moriarty:

“Jim Moriarty. Hiiiii! 👋. Jim? Jim from the hospital? Did I really make such a fleeting impression? But then, I suppose that was rather the point. I’ve given you a glimpse. Just a teensy glimpse of what I got going on out there in the big bad world. I’m a specialist .. you see. Like you. Consulting criminal. You've come the closest, now you're in my wayyy. Daddy's had enough nowww. I've shown you what I can do, I cut loose all those people, all those little problems, even 30 million quid, just to get you out and play, so take this as a friendly warning, my dear... back off, although I have loved this, this little game of ours, playing Jim from IT, playing Gay, did you like the little touch with the underwear?”

This insanely intelligent psychopath. People died!!

Jim:

(suddenly his voice goes from giddy to a short burst of anger) ”That's what people DO!”

You give him the USB with the missile plans. He smiles & takes it.

Morairity:

“Ohhh. That. The missiiile plans.” (he kisses the usb drive and looks down at it) ”Boriiiing. I could’ve gotten them anywhere.” (he tosses the drive in the pool)

Fuck. He’s going to kill you.

Jim:

"Kill you? Eh, no. Don’t be obvious. I’m going to kill you anyway someday. I don’t want to rush it. I’m saving it up for something special. If you don’t stop prying… I will burn you. I will burn the heart out of you. Oh! Well I better be off. Ciao."

He turns around to leave… & walks away… then turn back around.

Jim:

”Sorry, boys! I'm so changeable! It is a weakness with me, but to be fair to myself, it is my only weakness. You can't be allowed to continue, you just can't. I would try to convince you, but everything I have to say has probably already crossed your mind.”

He rocks on his heels, giggling like a schoolboy — then every single trace of it dies, and something with shark's eyes looks out at you instead. The red dot drifts up toward your forehead… 🔴

He’s actually going to kill you here & now.