The Devil’s Cage

“Huh?”

Gredith turned to Kieran, searching for answers.

“It’s poisoned,” Kieran said.

With his near rank II Intuition and Musou level [Medicine and Medicinal Knowledge], he knew the envelope was poisoned the moment he laid eyes on it.

Since he had chosen to master poison in the mentioned skill, Kieran could even differentiate the poison inside: Fluoroacetamide mixed with green-and-black poison dart frog.

Judging from the poison level, one would not even have to bear a cut or a wound, a single touch on the skin would be lethal enough.

On top of that, the culprit was smart, a little contraption built with fish vesicles was placed inside. Whenever the envelope was torn open, the poison would be sprayed.

People were used to tearing envelopes in front of their chest and based on the height and angle, the content of the envelope would be facing the face, meaning the poison inside would surely reach the eyes, a weak spot.

Kieran didn’t know what kind of grudge the culprit had with the inspector but it was certain that the culprit wanted her dead!

Since it was along the way, Kieran didn’t mind saving her for the unlikeable character and respectful persistence.

More so, the little poison envelope was delivered here only to settle a simple grudge?

Could it be the culprit wanted to silence the witness because the inspector had known something she shouldn’t, like the ‘disastrous incidents’ his ex-wife had been through over the years?

Coincidentally, when the inspector was investigating the frequent ‘disastrous incidents’ around his ex-wife, the envelope was delivered.

Coincidence much?

Some may view it as coincidence but Kieran never believed in it.

“Poison?” Gredith was stunned. She looked at the envelope in her hands with a heavy expression before she ordered her men to examine it.

The result came out very quickly.

“Inspector, the poison inside turns out to be fluoroacetamide mixed with some kind of animal toxin. We are still working on identifying the animal. There is also a little contraption placed inside the envelope. Once it’s torn open, the poison will spray out. The slightest touch on the poison would end up in dire situations,” One of the officers reported with lingering fear.

“Really?” Gredith took a deep breath to regulate her emotional roller coaster before looking at Kieran.

“I’m a doctor,” Kieran replied first as he knew what Gredith was going to ask.

“A psychologist!” She emphasized.

“…is also a doctor. While I majored in psychology, I also had a minor in pharmacology, similar to my hobby in practising martial arts,” Kieran bluffed without blinking.

Gredith couldn’t differentiate his lies from the truth because she wasn’t familiar with Kieran.

Although she did run a background check on Kieran when she was investigating his ex-wife Mary, other than the youngest winner of the Fervon Psychology Prize, compared to his ex-wife, he was really a ‘nobody’.

Through some contact with him, Gredith understood the man was something else.

Majoring in psychology and the youngest winner of Fervon Psychology Prize.

Loved martial arts and easily broke the legs of a psycho killer.

Minored in pharmacology and able to tell the envelope was poisoned without touching.

Others pursued those achievements for their entire life and would still not be even half as good as him, yet he made it all look so easy and was able to master multiple fields.

Gredith acknowledged the existence of a genius, but it had to be proven! Otherwise it would be a disguise!

A person with disguise must have something to hide and when secrets were related to more than one murder case, its importance was enlarged.

“We are allowed to appoint a consultant here at the station and it is viable to do so for this case. So, 2567…”

“My fee is 300 per hour, if you make an appointment, but it seems like things are a little different here, so let’s switch things up. The fee will start counting from the moment you decided to hire me with a contract. After I sign it, whether or not I am at the station, you will have to pay me a month’s pay in advance. If the duration is less than a month in total, I’ll still consider it as a full month; If the duration reaches a full month, we’ll sign another contract of the same terms for the next month,” Kieran stopped her and told her his rate.

He had no intentions to work with her because he knew what she was after and also how to reject her.

Like what Kieran expected, after Gredith heard Kieran’s rate, her face turned black.

A day’s pay for Kieran would equal her monthly pay and a month’s pay would be able to replace 30 inspectors in the station—there were only 5 inspectors in the station, including her.

The pay equivalent to 30 inspectors was an unbearable cost for the station.

If she really agreed to Kieran’s terms, other than the director, the tax inspection bureau would meet her for coffee the next day, followed by unpaid service for a long period of time.

Since she loved her job, she knew what was the right choice to make.

“Too bad then. Please keep your phone clear at all times, we will contact you if you are needed back here for investigation.”

After the standard operating procedures, Gredith didn’t care about Kieran anymore and started to assign tasks to her men.

“Check the cameras, find that guy who delivered the parcel. Find out who this dead woman is and I want the reports on the previous dismemberment case on my desk before sunset!”

Kieran heard what Gredith said as he walked out of the station, leaving without commenting on her actions.

It was her job and habit anyway, Kieran had no right to point her around.

He too had his own way of doing things. Under [Tracking]’s view, the traces left on the paper box were exposed to his eyes.

Kieran walked forward slowly and vanished beyond the street corner.

…

McRose hasn’t slept all night.

After the sky turned bright, she rushed back to her workshop.

To her, a pathologist, the place was her life. Even though something horrifying happened last night, she’d never try to remember it again for the rest of her life, paying her installment every month giving her the courage.

McRose checked the place first before she got to work. Other than the lights that were left on all night and wasted some electricity, everything returned to normal.

Phew!

McRose heaved a breath of relief.

She was really worried that her workshop would be visited by some people with weird fetishes.

If that was really the case, she would be finished without any ground for a comeback.

And now?

She had the chance to bounce back!

She picked up the phone and dialed the number on her notebook.

The number belonged to the previous owner of McRose Forensic lab, which was her teacher and also her friend.

That was the reason why she took over the lab by borrowing a loan from the bank without hesitation 6 months ago, when she heard her teacher was trying to sell it.

She was very familiar with her teacher cum friend. The reason behind the sale was her teacher having health problems, not problems the duty pathologist duty.

McRose was able to secure a stable working relationship with the station, so the whole forensic lab had quite the earnings. As long as she put her heart into working, other than the monthly loan installment, she could enjoy one or two nice meals every month.

That was of course her original thought of her future life.

Although until now she still dare not believe her teacher was involved in the secret room down at the morgue, her firm stand was shaken.

The phone call got through.

“Hey, Adams, I have something to ask you,” McRose greeted before asking in a casual tone.

“What is it? Tell me, Rose,” a weak male voice came from the other side of the phone.

“When you took over this forensic lab, did it have an owner before?” McRose tried to make it less obvious.

“Of course. I’m the second owner and you are the third. I know the lab is a little broken but she’s still a pretty lady, you need to take good care of her,” the weak voice joked.

“I view her as my life,” McRose replied.

“Then, did something happen to her?” the weak voice asked.

“Like what I told you before, old circuitry, stuck pipes, old surveillance system, there were more than a few people who had their eyes on her.”

McRose was angry when she mentioned those bastards. It wasn’t an act but her true feelings.

Death should be respected.

McRose understood that saying since she always dealt with dead bodies.

She’d complete her job with the utmost devotion, trying her best to find clues on the body and return justice to the dead man or woman. However, there were some bastards who liked things that people disliked. Other than some bastard with mental illness, most of them took pride in their despicable act, boasting like a 3 years old with a new toy.

A 3 years old child was forgivable as their views were still being shaped, but those bastards?

They were unforgivable!

“Do you want me to talk to Inspector Gredith?” the weak voice asked.

“No need, she helped me a lot and I heard she’s quite busy now.”

McRose rejected her teacher’s goodwill, chatting for a while more and when she heard the tiredness in the voice, she hung up the phone.

Why not ask about the first owner’s details from her teacher directly?

McRose wasn’t a cruel person, she did not have to heart to drag a man on his sick bed into the case. She had to approach this through different channels.

Fortunately, after she became a pathologist, she made friends with many kinds of people and had no lack of suitable channels.

She took out her phone and sent a message to someone. She then took a deep breath and walked down to the morgue.

She ought to find clues left behind by the person who built that secret slaughterhouse.

The wall of body cabinets moved and the secret slaughterhouse opened up again before her eyes.

It wasn’t her first view of the place and she should have gotten used to the stench of blood, yet it made her feel uncomfortable.

She held her breath, raising the torchlight into the room to search for the switch to turn on the power.

She easily found the power switch on the wall but… it was covered with dried blood and had bits of meat and hair on it, making her furrow her brows.

Through her professional knowledge, she knew it was a piece of scalp.

In her mind, she pictured how the owner of the secret slaughterhouse rammed an innocent person’s head into the switch, laughing frenziedly before the power was switched off.

She didn’t just imagine the scene though, it was based on experience, the experience where she was dragged into the body cabinet!

McRose felt a stinging sensation on the back of her head, subconsciously touching her scalp. It was fine and intact, so she heaved a breath of relief.

“Damn it!”

McRose had no idea why she would experience something like that but it didn’t stop her determination from solving the incident.

Kak!

An electrical buzz sounded and the whole room was lit up.

The operation chair covered in thick blood stains, stool scattered in the corner, and a trolley with torture tools were all shown to McRose by the light.

The sudden light made her squint her eyes, waiting for her eyes to adapt before she started to search for possible clues.

Unfortunately, she got nothing, as the hour long search was fruitless. After the search, she stood in the middle of the room, a little depressed. While she was wondering what she missed, chuckles sounded in her ears.

“I found it! It is here!”

Amid the chuckles, a man in a gray hoodie appeared before McRose.

His voice was muffled, as if something was in his mouth when he spoke. Other than his blurry voice, when he walked, he staggered heavily too.

“Stand right there!” McRose pulled out her taser and shouted at him, trying to prevent him from getting closer.

The man turned a deaf ear and walked forward.

McRose pulled the trigger on the taser. Powerful electrical pulse electrocuted the man’s body as the darts hit him.

Ts!

Spark!

As the electrical pulses ran through his body, the man fell on the floor, twitching violently. The muscles on his body shrunk rapidly, causing him to curl up into a ball.

McRose heaved a breath of relief.

She knew how powerful her taser gun was, so she avoided the head and the heart, as it was enough to immobilize the man by shooting him on the waist.

McRose strode over to the man, kicking his hoodie over to reveal a pale, scrawny middle-aged man.

She knew the man had problems with his pancreas and liver based on a single glance at his face, otherwise a healthy, normal person wouldn’t be so skinny.

McRose wanted to call the police but when she thought about the trouble that would follow, she hesitated.

While she was fighting her thoughts, the curled up man on the floor stretched his body, jumping up like a possessed dead body and grabbing McRose by the neck with body-defying movements.

McRose was held up high in the air, struggling fiercely and landing multiple kicks on the man, but the man, who should be heavily sick and weak, was exceptionally strong during that moment.

His arm was like an iron clamp, pinning down her neck; his body was as hard as steel, her feet hurting when her kick landed.

The man grabbed McRose closer to the operation chair.

He muttered ceaselessly as though he was on a pilgrimage.

“Live forever…and undying…”

Step by step, the man walked closer and strapped McRose on the operation chair.

“Let go of me!” She struggled.

When she saw the man pick up the knife from the fallen tool box, she was utterly frightened.

She knew what the man wanted to do, because she experienced it before, and unlike the previous ‘experience’, this particular experience was real to her.

‘No!’

Despair rose in her heart, causing her to close her eyes.

The mutters in her ears echoed endlessly, as though the death bell was ringing.

Suddenly, amid the death bell rings, something similar to a firework going off sounded.

“Live forever…and undying…”

“Live forever…and undying…”

“D-Delicious… and cheap…”

“D-Delicious… and cheap…”