Chapter 5: Interview and a New Murder

"The police…?" The door creaked as it opened slightly, revealing a middle-aged woman. "Are you talking about Delia's murder?"

"Yes, ma'am. We would just like to ask you a few questions about what you had heard during the night of the murder?" Caspian said with a disarming smile.

The woman simply nodded her head as she completely opened the door, letting both Caspian and Abby enter. "Come in."

The two complied as they entered the woman's house. She then led them to the living room and told them to sit down while saying, "Officers, would you like something to drink?"

"Ah, no need, ma'am. We wouldn't want to trouble you that much," Caspian said.

"No, no, I insist," the woman smiled.

Feeling helpless, Caspian and Abby then asked for a glass of water. The woman simply complied and gave them both a glass of water before the interview began.

"She's a really hospitable lady," Abby said as she looked at Caspian. Caspian just smiled as he agreed.

"Ma'am, we would like to ask what your relationship with the victim is?"

"She was my best friend. Her death was so sudden; I don't even know what to say."

"I see," Caspian rubbed his chin while peeking at his notes.

"Next question, what did you hear when the victim was murdered?" Caspian asked with a solemn expression."

"Well… it was quite traumatizing," the woman trembled as she thought about it. "At first… I heard chants of some unknown language… then laughs… after that, I heard Delia screaming."

The woman had a sullen and terrified face. "She had never really fought against anyone too…. Just why would anyone attack her?"

"Chants….?" Caspian whispered as he looked at Abby. He kept his mouth quiet, but he thought, 'Could the killers… they could possibly be cultists.'

"Next question, ma'am. Did you happen to get a glimpse of anyone entering her home?"

"No. Before her murder, I came by to pick something up from her, and just a couple minutes after that, I heard those weird chants and Delia's screams… If I… If I didn't leave immediately….!" The woman exclaimed as she looked down while clenching her hands into a fist.

Caspian wryly smiled as he asked the woman, "Are you okay, ma'am?"

"I-I'm sorry for shouting… I tend to get very emotional," the woman had tears in her eyes, but she simply wiped them with her hand as she said, "I'm ready for the next question, officer."

"Okay, ma'am. I'd like to ask you one more question. Would you happen to know if miss Delia had a conflict with someone recently?"

"Not that I know of. As I told you earlier, Delia never takes the initiative to fight against anyone. She doesn't like conflict since she's really religious."

"Thank you for your time, ma'am."

"No, thank you, officer…. Please… find out who did this!" the woman begged as tears fell from her eyes.

Caspian placed his hand on his shoulder as he smiled, trying to comfort the woman. "Don't worry, ma'am, we will."

"We will go now, ma'am. Thank you so much for your time," Caspian said as he beckoned Abby to leave with him. The woman nodded as she sent them off with a wave.

As they left, Caspian couldn't help but voice out his thoughts to Abby. "Do you think the killer is a cultist? Chanting doesn't sound like what a normal person would do."

"It could be a possibility. It could also be just a crazy person who'll say they got a revelation from god," Abby said while driving her car.

"Ah, shit! There are barely any clues about the murder! It makes me wanna smoke some cigarettes," Caspian said as he leaned his head on the window.

Hearing that, Abby giggled. But she stopped just after a while as she said, "But it's better than nothing. The first possible clue is what you mentioned."

"I mean, it's the one that'd make a lot more sense," Caspian sighed as he massaged his head. "Based on the autopsy, the victim had some type of animal blood mixed with her blood. Unless the murderer is a cultist, it won't make much sense to do that."

Just as Caspian mentioned that, Abby's face turned from expressionless to a frown, her skin somewhat paling. Caspian noticed it and asked, "You okay?"

"Yeah, just shocked by what you said. Do you think they're trying to mix animal blood with people?"

"That's what Doctor Scarlet and our old pathologist said."

"You mean that old man? I thought he retired?"

"Yeah, he did. He just stayed and helped Doctor Scarlet with the autopsy before he left the station."

"That old man is really faithful to his job, huh," Abby let out a laugh.

"I'll ask for any new information from Scarlet tomorrow. I'd also like to visit that abandoned hospital," Caspian said as he had an exasperated sigh.

"Huh? Are you gonna visit that place again?"

"Oh, right. I haven't told you. I met some suspicious people there. That's why I asked you to send someone to patrol there. They managed to knock me out and disappear without a trace."

Abby's brows furrowed, but her face relaxed after a second as she said, "Let's go there tomorrow. And I'll be coming with you this time, alright?"

Caspian nodded as he went with Abby on her patrol. After that, they headed back to the police station.

As Caspian entered his office once more, he saw more paperwork piled.

"HHHUURHH!" Caspian let out a frustrated sigh as he did most of the paperwork before he left the station.

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After Caspian arrived at his apartment, he took off his clothes, did some exercises, and headed to the shower. However, it wasn't a quick shower this time. He submerged his body in the bathtub he filled with warm water as he contemplated deeply about the clues he had put together.

The only things he knew relating to the murder were the murderer being a possible cultist and the abandoned hospital, as the victim had photos of it in her mouth.

He was annoyed by the fact that he couldn't add things up. It was such a strange case. 'The victim's torso exploded without shrapnels and any remnants of an explosive…. Her blood was mixed with animal blood…. Possible cultist murder…. The abandoned hospital. None of these things add up!'

Caspian decided not to waste more time as he washed his body up and got out of the bathtub. Before he left the bathroom, he looked at himself in the mirror while grabbing his hair that mostly covered his face, "I should get a haircut tomorrow."

He flexed his muscles a little bit to see if his body was still in its peak state. Caspian left the bathroom, got clothed, and immediately headed to bed. "Let's just hope tomorrow isn't as stressful as every other day."

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2 AM in the morning, Caspian was sleeping soundly, but his phone suddenly rang, waking him up. Caspian, lying on the bed, couldn't help but wipe his face as he whispered, "Someone calling me this early in the morning… that isn't a good sign."

Caspian yawned as he sat down on the bed and answered the phone without looking at who had called. Suddenly, a voice rang out, "Caspian, there's been another murder."

Caspian's eyes instantly turned from half-asleep to completely awake. 'Another murder?'

"Alright, I'll come by right now; send me the address," Caspian said as he started changing his clothes. After that, he holstered his gun on the chest holster of the coat that he had and immediately drove towards the location Abby sent to him.

As he arrived, he noticed Abby running up to him. "Good, you're here."

"Yeah, let's head to the crime scene immediately," Caspian said as they headed inside the victim's home after showing their identification. As they entered, he saw a woman crying loudly while kneeling while a man held her with tears flowing from his eyes nonstop.

As they opened the door of the crime scene, he saw Scarlet taking a close look at the body.

Caspian's eyes furrowed as he saw the body of the victim. "It's a kid….!"

Abby also had a somewhat disturbed look on her face. It was a normal reaction; after all, murdering a kid was just on another level.

Caspian gazed at the body and saw that the kid died the exact same way the first victim died. He immediately approached Scarlet as he said, "This was done by the same person…."

Scarlet had a serious look on her face as she nodded. "It's far worse this time. There are signs of multiple bruises and cuts on the head with the same purple hue and some bruising on the wrists and ankles."

"Not only that, there are signs of torture on the poor kid's body. It looks like nails dug into the kid's skin, causing multiple wounds. The explosion of the kid's torso is also the same as the first victim. No traces of explosives whatsoever," Scarlet said with a solemn face.

Caspian gritted his teeth as he asked, "Any other information?"

"No, nothing else aside from what you know," Scarlet shook her head. "We have to do an autopsy before finding out anything else."

"Damnit!" Caspian whispered while clenching his hands, forming fists. "How can we find out anything!"

As he looked around, he knew that there were no traces of the killer whatsoever. Typically they would leave fingerprints, sometimes footprints. But there was none at all, as if the kid died normally.

Before Caspian could find out anything else, the door opened, causing him to turn back. Five figures were about to enter the room, and Caspian could recognize the person who was leading them.

A voice suddenly shouted aloud. Caspian knew that voice, the voice of the officer who was also at the previous crime scene, Garcia.

"Ma'am! You can't enter without proper identification!"

Grace simply sighed as she pulled out a badge while saying, "I'm Agent Grace Ashwood. Now can you let us enter?"

"Ma'am, although you have identification, I'm not allowed to let anyone in just because they added Agent to their name, that might also be a fake badge! If you forcefully enter, I will report you to the captain of our department."

"*Sigh*, contact him and tell him Agent Grace is here to investigate."

Garcia simply complied as he contacted their captain. After a while of talking, Garcia fell quiet as he said, "You can enter, ma'am."

"Good."

As they entered, Caspian couldn't help but ask, "Mom, what are you doing here?"

"I came here to take a look at the body."