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Draw inspiration from the subject line of an email you recently received, part 5

You can read part 1 here, part two here, part three here, and par four here.

"You know, Clarice, I think I've figured it out."

"Figured what out, Jennifer?"

"Your first name."

Sarah froze. She hadn't meant to reveal herself to Jennifer until the end of their sessions. This was too early.

"I've told you my name."

"Oh I'm sure you go by Sarah, Clarice. You are very careful not to lie to me." Jennifer drummed her fingers on the table. "I appreciate that, but you left something out and that's like lying, isn't it?" Jennifer turned her cold eyes to Sarah.

Sarah said nothing, but considered signalling for the guard. Jennifer was a dangerous woman when crossed.

"I'm just surprised that I didn' figure it out sooner," mused Jennifer, looking up at the ceiling. "I should've remembered you so that's on me. But what I can't suss is why you didn't tell me from the beginning."

Sarah had promised herself she wouldn't outright lie to Jennifer, so she replied truthfully, "I wanted you to be more objective in what you told me."

"But what if I had remembered you from the start?"

"Then the project would've taken a different turn," shrugged Sarah as casually as she could with her rapid heart rate.

"You said you wrote to other serial killers. Was that a lie?"

"No," replied Sarah honestly, "I wrote to others and you were the only one to respond."

"But I'm the one you wanted to talk to the most." Jennifer's smile glinted with danger.

"Yes."

"You know, Clarice, I'm surprised."

"Surprised at what?"

"I was sure I would catch you in a lie, but as I think back over our conversations, you never did lie. You evaded, sure, but you never outright lied to me."

"I wanted to be honest with you, Jennifer."

Jennifer laughed, "Is that what you think? Whatever helps you sleep at night, Clarice."

"Why? What do you think?" Sarah bravely readied her pen to take a note, she missed Jennifer eyeing it carefully.

"I think you're scared of me."

"Does that seem odd to you?" Sarah scribbled a note.

"I suppose not. But it's the only reason I can think of that you didn't reveal that we used to know each other."

"We did," said Sarah, putting her pen down for a moment. It rolled and Sarah quickly grabbed it. Jennifer didn't miss this.

"We used to be friends."

"I hope we're still friends."

"Do you? Do you really want to be friends with me now?" Jennifer cocked her head to the side and stared at her.

Sarah sighed, "We did promise we'd be friends forever, Jennifer."

"We were six. What did we know of forever?"

"Does this change how you want to participate in the project?"

Jennifer laughed, "Always thinking about the project, eh?"

"It is my priority here."

"BAH!" shouted Jennifer, causing Sarah to jolt and drop her pen. The table was uneven and it rolled into Jennifer's grasp. She twirled it in her hands as best she could.

"Give--give me back my pen, Jennifer."

Jennifer smirked, "No."

"Guards!" 

Jennifer took the pen and plunged it into her leg, cackling as she did so. The guards rushed in and immediately carted Jennifer off.

Sarah sat in the room breathing heavily.

***

Later that night, Sarah got a call to let her know Jennifer was recovering at a local hospital and would be all right. Sarah breathed a sigh of relief. 

However, the next morning Sarah found a note slipped under her door:

"Thanks for the help, Julie."

Jennifer had escaped.

(Prompt by Kimisha Cassidy)

Confession of a Serial Killer: The Untold Story of Dennis Rader, the BTK Killer by Katherine Ramsland (UPNE, 2017)

Full subject line: "Confession of a Serial Killer - Documentary on A&E in January 9781512601527"

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