The Copycat Killer

The Suicide Murderer

The first crime scene made no sense.

Detective Ava Cole stepped over the yellow tape into the penthouse suite, her breath fogging in the unnatural chill. Two bodies:

Victim: CEO Richard Banes - stabbed 17 times

Killer: Unidentified male - self-inflicted gunshot wound

"ME says they died simultaneously," said her partner, kicking the killer's pistol. "Same second."

The security footage confirmed it. The killer walked calmly into Banes' home, committed the brutal murder, then immediately put the gun in his mouth and fired—while still stabbing.

Ava crouched beside the killer's corpse. His wrist bore a fresh tattoo:

"1 of 6"

Chapter 2: The Pattern of Dead Men

Three days later, it happened again.

Victim: Judge Eleanor Voss

Killer: Different man, same MO

Tattoo: "2 of 6"

This time, the killer drowned himself in the judge's pool while slitting her throat.

The morgue report revealed something impossible—both killers had identical scar tissue on their left shoulders. Precise surgical marks.

Ava's blood ran cold when she ran the prints.

The first killer's fingerprints matched a convict who'd hanged himself in prison...

On the night of Banes' murder.

Chapter 3: The Doctor's Files

The trail led to Blackwood Psychiatric.

Dr. Seth Raynor's research notes described "Project Lazarus"—an experiment in "consciousness transference."

Ava flipped through patient photos. Six death row inmates, all with the same shoulder scar.

The last page showed a diagram of a machine labeled "Neural Broadcast Array."

Handwritten in red:

"The host dies, but the signal lives."

Her radio crackled. Another murder.

This time, the killer's tattoo read "3 of 6."

And he'd left a note:

"Hello, Detective Cole."

In her handwriting.

Chapter 4: The Live Demonstration

Dr. Raynor's lab had been scrubbed—except for one active monitor.

Security footage showed the fourth killer walking into a police station...

Her precinct.

Ava's phone rang.

"Detective?" The desk sergeant's voice shook. "There's a man here demanding to see you. Says he's..." A pause. "Says he's your father."

Her father had died when she was six.

On screen, the killer turned toward the camera—and suddenly had her father's face.

The feed cut to static.

When it cleared, the precinct lobby was empty except for a fresh corpse with a "4 of 6" tattoo.

And a new note:

"You can't arrest what keeps jumping bodies."

Chapter 5: The Fifth Host

The fifth murder broke all the rules.

Victim: Dr. Seth Raynor

Killer: A woman matching Ava's description

Tattoo: "5 of 6"

The lab footage showed Raynor begging as his own machine activated.

"Don't you see?" he screamed at the Ava-lookalike. "You're just the—"

Then his head exploded.

Literally.

The killer—now wearing Raynor's face—smiled at the camera and carved the tattoo into her arm.

Ava's phone buzzed. A text from her own number:

"Almost ready for you."

Chapter 6: The Final Transfer

Ava found the sixth host in her apartment.

Herself.

The other Ava sat cross-legged on her bed, cleaning Ava's service pistol.

"Took you long enough," the double said. "Raynor never understood. The machine doesn't transfer consciousness."

She pressed the gun to her own temple.

"It copies. And the original always dies."

Ava's vision doubled. Memories flooded her mind—electric chairs, lethal injections, a noose tightening.

Six lifetimes of executions.

The last thing she saw before the gunshot was the tattoo appearing on her wrist:

"6 of 6"

Then darkness.

Then light.

Then a new name tag on her desk:

"Detective Ava Cole"

And seven fresh bodies to choose from.