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[abrightboy]

 This is Bright. Leave a message.

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[abrightboy]

“A 70’s rock star owned one. The killer broke into his mansion while he was overseas and used it in situ. Plus all the construction materials he needed for the immurement were already in the basement because the rock star was having a new sex dungeon built,” Malcolm tells him. “He just walled him right in to the new sex dungeon, shackled to the wall.”

[empathicfault]

Will's eyebrows raise and he laughs. "Oh, wow. That's- was the rock star involved, or was he just the unfortunate owner of the killer's very particular choice of murder weapon?"

[abrightboy]

“He was a bystander. The killer was a justice killer who was an actual executioner for the state of Texas. He killed them because they conspired to murder someone and then let an innocent man be put to death for it,” Malcolm tells him with clear delight.

[empathicfault]

Will tilts his head to the side as he listens, looking both excited and kind of jealous. "Oh, well. I don't suppose I can feel too badly about the victims, in that case. Did you catch the...justice killer? Is that a common term where you're from?"

He thinks he likes it.

[abrightboy]

"Yeah, for a killer motivated by a need to see justice done," Malcolm explains. "I did catch him. Apparently, he'd been following me around. He saw me go into Claremont to visit my father. I came home one evening and he was waiting for me in my apartment. But my partner at the NYPD was on the phone with me when I walked in and I... didn't hang up. So when I talked to him about his crimes and he acknowledged them... he kind of confessed to a police officer. Then he attacked me with one of my Norse axes, so I had to fight him off with my scimitar until she got there and arrested him."

[empathicfault]

Will listens quietly, but quietly cringes with an 'eesh' noise as Malcolm talks about having an officer on the phone. That's awkward.

He's got a couple of questions, and goes with the physically closer one after looking back at the weapons displays. "That reminds me, do you have a lock on those things? Here on the Barge, at least." There are probably some inmates that would want to get their hands on a Norse axe or a well-balanced katana.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm looks over at the cases and shrugs awkwardly.

“Neal put a good lock on my door,” he says, pointing to it. Neal, his inmate, the professional burglar? Yes, that one. “I don’t know how good of a lock you can get on glass cases… I guess I could ask Neal.”

[empathicfault]

Will laughs a bit, but seems extremely unsurprised. "Well, he'd know. But you could also ask the Admiral for something that requires a Warden item to open. Just make it that little bit harder for a riot to happen."

He's fairly unconcerned about it, though, and shrugs. "Although I suppose, if a riot were going to happen, that probably would've been during the flood I came in on. I know there were some attacks, but the majority of inmates seemed-" He shakes his head. "-remarkably well-behaved."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm smiles.

“I told Shaw we should give them the benefit of the doubt,” he says. “And also my weapons cases didn’t exist when this was an inmate cabin. Just the bit down there with my bed,” he explains, gesturing towards it.

[empathicfault]

"Ah, right. Of course, I forgot." He'd been just gaining his footing here, after all.

And now he's back to the case. "The justice killer- why had he been following you? He just want to chat?" Hey, sometimes killers look for someone they think could understand them. Will was obviously more familiar with those.

[abrightboy]

"I... kind of set a trap for him. It worked super well. He was watching the first crime scene. Saw me there with the team; saw our dynamic. Once I figured out we were dealing with a justice killer and I knew what the injustice was that he was attempting to right, I... had the team announce the arrest of someone I knew wasn't the killer. I knew that would draw him out. I didn't realize it would draw him into my livingroom, but it all worked out," Malcolm explains.

[empathicfault]

Will tilts his head to the side, a hint of a smile on his face as he realizes. "The killer wanted to set you straight. He certainly wouldn't have wanted an innocent man convicted of his crimes. That'd just be hypocritical," Will says, matter-of-factly.

There's a voice inside of Will that seems to be growing louder. It sounds like Hannibal, because of course it does. But it speaks of potential, of finding the right incentive, of nurturing particular inclinations. Malcolm could be fully realized, but- he'd be different, than any of them. Unique. It could be a quiet but glorious awakening.

Will listens, but not too closely. Malcolm is more important, for the moment.

[abrightboy]

"Exactly. And then when he found out about my father, he decided I had murder in my blood and sentenced me to death. Hence attacking me with my axe," Malcolm tells him, tying it all up with a bow.

[empathicfault]

"Ugh. That's not very fair, now is it?" Will replies, rolling his eyes. "The logic always does fall apart at the end, I've found. If there was any logic there at the beginning." Which, admittedly, sometimes there wasn't. That was often why they needed Will's help back home.

"Well, I'm glad that you didn't get axe murdered in your own home," he says, sounding pleased. That was an interesting story. He punctuates it with a final slurp of his tea. "Do you ever check up on any of the other people you catch? Keep up with where they end up?"

[abrightboy]

"Sometimes. One of my cases in New York... the victim was killed by what I identified as a nascent sadist. I just... I didn't realize at first how nascent. It was a kid. I didn't see him at first. I had a blind spot. He reminded me of me. But I found the backyard graves of all the pet rabbits he suffocated and realized he'd just escalated when he stabbed his dad. I visit him sometimes. He's doing really well in the in-patient program," Malcolm tells him.

[empathicfault]

"Ah," says Will, his face falling a bit. This one's not fun, but it's...well, it's good to know about.

"You've mentioned this kid before," he points out. It had been while Malcolm had been trying to make him feel better about Abigail. "I'm glad he's doing well. I've never known how much those programs do, but I hope it helps him. Do they know what's causing his issues?" Probably not trauma, if he surprised everyone.

[abrightboy]

"He's been diagnosed with conduct disorder and the concern is it's leading to full blown psychopathy. They've been trying a specific regimen of cognitive behavioural therapy and so far he's responding to it." He pauses. "When I was eleven I became obsessed with snakes and my mom let me get some. I didn't know at the time that she was watching me for signs of psychopathy. Seeing if I hurt them."

[empathicfault]

Well, they caught the boy at the right time, if they're going to be able to do anything about it. Will does hope it helps him.

Turning back to Malcolm, Will smiles a bit. "What type of snakes did you get? I'm not super familiar- just had mudsnakes and king snakes around my house sometimes. They generally leave well enough alone." Especially with the dogs.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm lights up. "I had a corn snake, a ball python and two California kingsnakes." He winces slightly. "Eventually one of the kingsnakes escaped their enclosure and the solarium and ate my sister's gerbil," he admits. "And then my mother made me get rid of them." He leans forward, because this part is important. "I made sure to find them good homes."

[empathicfault]

Will smiles. "Of course, you did. Maybe it was harder to tell when you were...less verbal, but of course you cared. I'm glad you found someplace for them to go." He'd guess that snakes were a lot harder to rehome than dogs or cats.

"I went through my fair share of testing when I was a kid, too, but it was more overt. I'm sure you had a good chunk of that too," he notes. "Dad couldn't just stay home and observe me, and we were always moving anyway."

[abrightboy]

“I’m… on the spectrum,” Malcolm confesses. “But we moved in society back then, where one doesn’t acknowledge such things, and then afterwards… well. I had bigger problems.” He shrugs. “What places did you get to live in?”

[empathicfault]

Will rolls his eyes a bit, hearing about 'society'. Of course, it wasn't like people wanted to talk about it in lower class settings, either- everyone had enough problems. And- yeah, after Malcolm's father was caught, there was plenty else to check on.

"It was mostly southern Louisiana, and mostly in a houseboat. We'd pick up and move down-river occasionally, after I'd caused enough of a fuss, or Dad got transferred. I had...outbursts, at school. Took me until high school to start recognizing where my emotions were coming from." It was awful, but there wasn't much for it. Will shrugs. "I'd spend as much time as I could alone, fishing or reading. Fixing the boat, when it needed it."

[abrightboy]

“Did they ever take you to a doctor for it?” Malcolm asks. “Try to find out what was wrong?”

[empathicfault]

"Oh, yeah. Went to whatever our insurance would pay for, which wasn't much. Got diagnosed borderline, shizoaffective, bipolar, and autistic, all different visits. Agoraphobic, too, which was probably my favorite."

He smirks. "They were throwing things at the wall. It was probably a good thing that we couldn't afford the meds when I was that young. And I don't know if it was just convenient or what, but my dad realized I was always just fine on my own. So that's what we did. And during summers, he'd take a couple of weeks off and we'd just head deep into the bayou." It's clear he's remembering that fondly.

[abrightboy]

“That sounds really great.” He remembers enjoying camping with his dad. Until he didn’t. “How did you find out what your condition really is?”