"I don't like this place..." Larry muttered as he entered the psychiatrist's office.
As a criminal profiler, he needed spaces like this so his supervisors could be sure he was mentally fit to continue his work. Some of the most famous criminal profilers had retired due to mental instability, something common in this line of work.
"Do you want to talk about your job?" Alessia asked, staring at Larry, who had been evading her questions as he always did.
"What do you want to know?"
"Why don't you tell me what you think about killers?"
Not the best question for someone like Larry, who stood at the edge of a bottomless abyss. But since this session was about going against his analyst, he said, "They are society's mistakes. Some are born with a rotten instinct, others are shaped by the environment they grow up in. But in the end, they all make a choice: to cross the line. And once they do, there's no going back."
"Would you say, then, that they are irredeemable?" Alessia asked as she took notes in her notebook.
Larry remained silent for a few seconds, staring at the ceiling, then said, "I don't care if they can change. By the time someone like me finds them, they've already done too much damage."
"That sounds quite deterministic. As if a killer's fate is sealed the moment they commit their first crime."
"I'm not interested in fate. I'm interested in justice."
"And your justice... Is it the law, or is it something else?"
That question made Larry laugh. He dreamed of becoming a judge of death, bringing justice and vengeance to those too weak to take it into their own hands.
Alessia, unfazed by Larry's behavior, asked, "Did I say something funny?"
"Let's just say the law has limits. I, on the other hand, do not."
"But you operate within the system, as a criminal profiler. Your job is to analyze minds, not pass judgment." Alessia was confused; she didn't think Larry would be reckless enough to give such incriminating answers.
"That's what my superiors believe." Larry paused and pointed out, "But when I'm working, the corpses speak to me. They scream their injustices, and I make sure their justice is served."
Alessia jotted down some notes and said, "Let's get back to you. I'm interested in how your personal history affects your view on crime."
"It's no mystery. My family was murdered. A man broke into my house and tore them apart. How do you think that affects my view of the dozens of crimes I've solved?" Larry asked irritably, showing clear signs of anger.
"It could make you develop an insatiable desire for revenge. Or it could turn you into someone obsessed with crime prevention. Where do you stand on that line?"
Larry stared at Alessia and asked, "Why do you think it can't be both?"
"Because revenge is personal. Prevention is objective. And you seem to mix the two."
"Maybe. Or maybe I realized that to prevent others from suffering what I did, you have to take measures that others aren't willing to take."
"Larry... Do you think your way of thinking could lead you to act on it at some point?" Alessia thought she had hit on something.
"For killers, yes. For you... Don't worry, I don't intend to harm anyone, only to catch the murderers. Tell Jack that my conviction remains the same, but my thoughts are clear, and when I take on a case, I don't rest until it's solved."
Alessia, who had had this conversation with Larry before, told him, "I've already told you that our conversations are completely private. Whatever you say or don't say here won't leave this room."
Larry didn't know if he could trust this woman, who had traveled all the way to Miami specifically for him, recommended by Jack, who seemed interested in seeing just how far he could go.
Truth be told, Larry believed he didn't need sessions like these; they only delayed his work and his way of thinking. "Well, are we done for today?"
"Yes, you can go."
"And the result?"
Alessia calmly closed her notebook and looked at him with an unreadable expression.
"The result is that you're still fit for your job, Larry." Alessia paused before adding, "But that doesn't mean you're okay."
Larry smirked mockingly and got up from his seat. "I don't need to be okay. I just need to do my job."
"That's what worries me." Alessia watched as he headed for the door. "Be careful with that line you say killers cross. Sometimes, when you get too close to the abyss, the abyss devours you."
Larry didn't respond. He just walked out of the office with the same certainty he had walked in with: these sessions were a waste of time.