The Devil’s Cage

Dak, Dak, Dak.

Officer Lin An walked up front as Kieran and Eckart walked side by side behind him.

Compared to how sneakily and tediously Lyn Amie had snuck into the crime scene, Kieran and Eckart’s entrance was much better, but Eckart’s nerves were a few times heavier than Lyn Amie’s.

Anyone would be nervous to enter a crime scene, even the killer. The killer might be even more nervous, but many would either return to the crime scene to probe for more information or to get some kind of mental fulfillment.

Needless to say, Eckart wasn’t the killer. He just had an aversion to dead bodies, like how normal people feared death.

Lin An, who led them in, suddenly paused in his steps.

“There is still time for you to turn around,” the middle-aged officer told Eckart jokingly.

Unlike Mei Huasheng, who was stiff and unkind to strangers, Lin An was very friendly and easy to deal with. However, he also had his own bottomline in his police duty. If Kieran and Eckart hadn’t told him the full story of the murder and gotten approval from his superior, Lin An wouldn’t have brought the two to the crime scene.

As for Lyn Amie?

He backed out the moment he heard they were returning to the crime scene. One time witnessing the freaky death scene had been enough for the makeup artist. A second viewing of the scene would make him throw up his dinner from the previous night.

“No need,” Eckart replied. His reply was obviously forced, but he had no other choice.

In order to tighten his relationship with Kieran, he had to.

What else was better for tightening their relationship than going through an unusual experience together?

None at the time being.

Lin An smiled when seeing Eckart force himself to this extent.

Lin An had seen a lot of people over the years, so he knew why Eckart was pushing himself so hard, and his curious gaze unconsciously landed on Kieran.

Lin An couldn’t help but feel astonished every time he thought of Kieran’s magical hypnosis methods and the way he moved his body like a yoga master.

“Do you still need to prepare anything?” Lin An asked Kieran.

Kieran shook his head, his eyes never leaving the opened door with police guarding in front.

Inside the room, the forensics were doing their job, collecting any evidence they could find.

Because of the bomb installed in the building, the forensics were forced to put their job on hold, hence prolonging their work time more than twice the usual, to the point that they were still working on it after so long.

“You guys have around 15 minutes as promised,” Lin An reminded the two of them before stepping aside.

Kieran walked in straightaway, and Eckart followed tightly.

When they entered, they saw two kneeling bodies and broken fingers stuck up like three joss sticks.

Kieran’s gaze circulated between the bodies and the fingers, then he turned to the internal part of the room.

The scene was of a normal office. There were four tables that should have been arranged in pairs next to the wall and beside the window respectively. Two tables were placed at the wall that was connected to the corridor outside; the other two tables were placed at the window, facing outside the ward area. Now, all four of the tables were moved to the wall, leaving quite some space near the window, which was where the two bodies were kneeling.

The curtains were half-opened, clean without a drop of blood.

The rope that hung over the bodies’ necks was actually from the curtain pole, not the ceiling. Lyn Amie had been mistaken because of the viewing angle from outside.

There was one more thing the makeup artist neglected.

The room had blood, but it was very clean; the small things in the office were tidied up in an orderly fashion. The scene must have been cleaned up before.

Kieran stepped around the blood on the floor and went to the window.

It was an aluminium frame window, maybe because the office was a part of the interior building. There was no common fences outside the window, thus providing an opportunity for the killer.

Kieran deduced that the killer should have came in through the window.

It wasn’t just because the ward section of the rehab center would be locked every night at 8 p.m. It was also because the entrance to the ward section had security and a surveillance camera.

In fact, not just the wards, as the treatment building and main entrance had similar settings as well.

That was the reason why the killer chose the activity lounge to plant the bomb.

“2-2567, how is it?” Eckart said while covering his nose.

“The killer is familiar with or at least understood the rehab center. The killer was able to instantly take down a doctor and a nurse before smuggling away three patients’ bodies here. First, the killer should be a male, around thirties. Second, the killer is fit and possesses martial art skills, probably related to the military. Third, the killer has a vehicle, a bread van or something similar,”

Kieran said quickly and clearly.

“Oh, oh, oh, then…”

Eckart nodded but he was obviously in a daze and didn’t hear any of it. He then pointed outside the office, and before Kieran could reply, he dashed out to the toilet.

Vomiting noises came out of the toilet and echoed through the corridor.

Kieran didn’t say anything, as he had been no better than Eckart during his first encounter with a dead body.

Kieran stepped back around the blood and returned to the office entrance, a spot where he could capture every detail in his sight.

“Found anything?” Lin An walked over.

The middle-aged officer was looking forward to Kieran providing some useful leads.

After all, a great hypnotist would have a sharp eye for details and out-of-the-box thinking. He might be a help to this case, especially when the mastermind wanted to play a game after an hour.

No matter how good tempered Lin An was, he was still enraged by the mastermind’s dirty tricks.

It was inhumane of the mastermind to treat this kind of despicable act as a game in Lin An’s point of view. These kind of people shouldn’t roam free in the city; they should live behind bars or get executed by shooting.

The mastermind had killed at least five people!

It wouldn’t be wrong to shoot this killer to death!

Kieran, however, didn’t answer the expectant officer.

He entered [Tracking] mode. Transcendence [Tracking] allowed his eyes to detect any kind of invisible traces in the scene.

Kieran got what he seeked within a moment, but at the same time, his stamina depleted.

Huuhaa, Huuhaa.

He felt like he had just finished a marathon as he panted heavily. Sweat filled his head, and his face turned slightly paler.

“What’s wrong with you?”

Lin An jolted when he saw the changes in Kieran. He wanted to help him up, but before he could, Kieran waved and rejected.

“Nothing.”

His voice was dry, hoarse and heavy.

It wasn’t the first time Lin An heard it. Kieran used a similar voice to speak during the live broadcast last night and when he questioned Kaomu.

Lin An had always thought it was one of Kieran’s skilled hypnosis techniques, because along with the snake-like movements that were like a yoga master’s, it could achieve wonders.

But now, the sudden change in Kieran made Lin An feel like his guesses were wrong.

Then…

Lin An quickly shook his head and discarded the sudden thought.

No way! How is that possible!

While the middle-aged officer was comforting himself, Eckart, who was also pale from all the puking, came back from the toilet after hearing the sound.

The director didn’t even care about his weak body and ran over when he saw what happened to Kieran.

“Are you alright, 2567?” he asked anxiously.

Kieran and Eckart were on the same boat, so Eckart’s concern was genuine.

“Take me to the restaurant!” Kieran said in a heavy tone.