Snippet #1059883

Jessica stood back in the interrogation room, leaning against the wall, arms crossed over her chest, letting Smith do his thing. Just looking at the guy, she could tell he probably wasn't good for it. The UNSUB for this case- she would not lower herself to using ridiculous media nicknames- was more intelligent.

No, this guy was more likely to be a fan, maybe one day a possible copycat, but not the UNSUB himself. Unless, of course, his current vacancy was an elaborate act. Her eyes narrowed at the small smile that appeared on his face during his denial. Ah, I see. You like the attention, do you? She contemplated for a moment. Smith appeared to be "on a roll," so to speak, and might be able to get any useful information this man contained eventually. Markle was not endowed with so much fortitude as to resist forever. Then again, it could be that he knew absolutely nothing at all, and this was simply a grand waste of their time.

Well, there was one way to find out. "He's right," she said, looking at Smith, but never directly at the suspect. Jessica had her own brand of the "bad cop" routine, and it was quite complimentary to her boss's. Where he'd intimidate the hell out of anyone, she preferred to deflate their overabundant egos with, cold, blunt dismissal. "There's no way he could have done it. He lacks... well, everything. The skill, the finesse, the-" here she let her eyes slide right over the suspect for the briefest of seconds before looking away again as though bored- "brains." While she hated praising serial killers more than most, it was a necessary and frequent tactic of people in her line of work.

As she turned and headed toward the door, trusting Smith to follow her lead here, she caught the man's expression out of the corner of her eye and smiled inwardly. The cocky smirk had disappeared, and he looked to be fuming.

Three, two, one...

"Wait!" Markle called after them. There we go. The man clearly loved the attention paid to the case- and by bizarre extension, himself- enough to be willing to spill his guts to keep it. Let's see if he knows anything useful after all.

"Go on," she replied flatly, as though uninterested, throwing a glance at Smith for effect. "We're listening... for now."