Chapter 13. Thoughts in my head

I looked at Alex, who was engrossed in his book. Could it be that he was simply escaping from reality into this occult club, creating his own little world within it? I felt sorry for him, as I had also replaced my family with work in the police force, but I ultimately chose my family. I hope I can help him.

"It's me again, James," I said loudly.

"Yes? Do you have questions about occultism?" he asked.

"This time, I have a more personal question. If you don't mind, I'd like to talk about your family, specifically your children," I said.

"I'd rather not talk about that," he said.

"Let me just say one thing. I myself believe that there is nothing more precious in this world than family. No matter what life throws at you, your family will always be there to support you, even if it's just morally. I got lost in my work and almost lost my family, but I decided to quit my job and fix my life and relationships with them. I'm not saying you should give up everything, but at least pay attention to their desire to learn. They're still kids and need guidance, and knowledge will always come in handy," I said.

He looked at me silently for a few minutes, while I remained quiet.

"I... I never wanted to hold them back like that, but it's like I'm trying to protect them in this way, even though it seems wrong. I compromised by having them attend school every other day so that at least one of them is always with me. I think you're right, though. I should let them go, because as you said, family is all I have," he said.

"As for the ritual you asked about, there was a ritual described in one of my books, but I removed it last year. At the end of the ritual, a sacrifice was to be made, and the closer the sacrifice was to the essence of a human, the better. That's why I got rid of it, because as much as I want to study occultism, I can't go that far," he said.

"Who saw that book?" I asked.

"As far as I remember, only a few people, and they no longer attend the club. Although, perhaps Riley knows, because he was also in the club at that time, and the Richards family was undergoing treatment. The rest of the club members have been there for no more than a year, so they haven't seen that book," he said.

The thoughts that were in my head during the conversation with Riley came back to me. He was a man whose straightforwardness and excessive friendliness seemed fake to me. The seed of doubt that was planted during the conversation had now bloomed.

He seemed to be talking about a ritual that he had found over a year ago. But if he was talking about this ritual, then it doesn't add up, because it has been happening in other states before it came to our town. Even if he is using someone to commit the murders, the time it takes to search and create this entire chain is not small, which means he must have disappeared for a long time. I need to ask Alex if Riley had disappeared this year.

"I would like to know, does Riley always come to the club?" I asked.

"Yes, we gather here 2-3 times a week, and he almost always comes," Alex replied.

"Almost? So there were times when he didn't come?" I asked.

"Yes, there were, but it started over a year ago. He disappeared for a few weeks, and then, as usual, he continued to come here," he said.

A few weeks wouldn't be enough for that, although perhaps I need to clarify the time it took for the first 9 victims to be killed by Samuel. I hope my suspicions turn out to be fiction because if they're true, then the bastard I'm trying to find, who's killing innocent people, will turn out to be someone from my town.

While I was lost in my thoughts, trying to calm myself down from the thought of arresting him, Samuel interrupted me by approaching me.

"And here you are, James. I would like to share with you new knowledge in occultism, can you come over for a minute?" Samuel said.

"Of course, I'll be right back," I said to Alex.

"If you have business to attend to, then go ahead, I'm always here," Alex said.

I stepped aside to where Samuel had beckoned me. "I couldn't get any significant clues from them, and after asking around about the ritual, I didn't get any data. What about you?" he asked.

"Maybe I found the one who is manipulating all of this, but I hope it's not true," I said.

"Who is it?" he asked seriously.

"I think it's Riley. Alex said he had a book describing a ritual that involved a sacrifice at the end, and the sacrifice had to be someone close to a human or a human-like entity, I can't remember exactly. And Riley was one of the people in the club at the time and possibly learned about the ritual, while the others joined the club after Alex got rid of the book," I explained.

He stood silently for a few seconds before asking, "So, I assume you have more evidence because this isn't enough to even start surveillance on him."

"He said he found a ritual for his pearl. And he has to perform a separate ritual for each pearl, and he has eight more rituals to go," I said.

"Perhaps you're right," he said after a few seconds. "If there are eight more rituals to perform, it fits with the concept of 9, 8, 7, and 6, which will give us a total of 30. But this is not enough to arrest him, as it's not even circumstantial evidence."

We stood there for a minute until he said, "I'll instruct my team to keep an eye on him. They will send a few people for this. I hope we're not on a false lead, or we will lose someone's life in vain."

Our conversation continued for some time until Alex announced that the club was closing for the day.