Chapter 45

Jackson's rambling towards the end was largely ignored by Randy.

With three similar types of cases, how could there be no clues at all?

"Where did these three cases occur? Were they in a particular neighborhood?"

"We're still looking for similarities. The murder cases are quite scattered. The first one was in Central City, the second in the East Suburbs, and the third in the West City. Moreover, there was no financial loss reported by the victim families."

Jackson suddenly exclaimed, "Oh! Damn, the lights went out! Who turned off the lights? The restroom is still occupied!"

Then a commotion could be heard on the other end of the phone. Randy vaguely heard another officer respond that the lights for the entire house had gone out.

After a brief moment, Jackson continued, "Damn, what were these people thinking, installing some kind of energy-saving motion-sensor light? The lights go out every so often and need a clap to turn back on."

"That's indeed strange. Maybe it's to save on electricity."

Randy quickly asked if there had been any other missing persons cases since noon.

"Of course, if you're in the town center's square, you'd see the missing persons posters covering an entire wall. My walkie-talkie went off at least three times this afternoon, all reports about missing children!

Sigh, I expect the parents will start marching soon."

Randy nodded. It seemed the clown was indeed busy, day and night.

Too much ambition can lead to one's downfall!

As Jackson was about to say more, there was a knock at the door.

"Jackson, are you done yet? Hurry up! Given the situation these past two days, there will definitely be another murder tonight. We need to start patrolling."

"Okay, right away!"

Jackson quickly replied and then whispered into the phone, "Sorry, Randy, you heard it. I have to get busy again."

"Alright, alright."

Randy then hung up and reviewed the recent cases in his mind.

First, he ruled out himself.

The missing children cases were basically the clown's work. Since it swallowed More the day before yesterday, it had at least eaten ten people so far.

Then there were the murder cases Jackson had been following, occurring every night for three consecutive days. If he guessed correctly, there would be another one tonight. But this troublemaker was very mysterious, always committing massacres, and had yet to reveal any clues.

Definitely a monster.

Next were the scattered cases.

Jackson mentioned that a farm in the suburbs had been attacked by a humanoid monster late at night, and the creature wasn't afraid of crosses or the Bible.

Not afraid of crosses and the Bible—many monsters can achieve that.

"Something's not right. The suburbs are near the convent. Given the strong faith in that area, monsters shouldn't be able to come close."

Randy thought the monster might be related to the convent, but that was just a guess.

Finally, there was the case of the woman who disappeared after a late-night rendezvous. The only clue was a text message she sent, stating she was abducted by a foul-smelling, muscular guy.

These last two cases should be easy to handle. With careful tracking, clues should eventually surface, right?

But the police still seemed to have no progress.

Randy sighed, "Is it that anyone named Delray is involved in evil?"

As a native of Delray, he didn't want these troublemakers causing such chaos and leading to a large exodus of residents.

Of course, he still had to take care of himself first.

It was nearly 8 p.m. now. Outside, it was dark. The lights in the Carrie household's living room were off after dinner, but the mother and daughter hadn't gone to sleep yet. The two rooms upstairs were lit, likely because they were praying in their respective rooms.

Margaret's room faced the street, offering a view of the front yard, while Carrie's room faced the backyard.

Randy changed into black clothes, sneaked out of the house, and then circled around to the back of Carrie's house.

The backyard had a high wall, but Randy easily climbed over it with the help of a nearby tree.

As soon as he got in, the window above suddenly opened, and Carrie nervously peeked out, her gaze precise.

It seemed she was quite perceptive.

Carrie was genuinely anxious. If her mother found out, she would definitely be in trouble! She didn't expect Randy to be so bold as to actually sneak into the yard.

A rebellious thrill and anticipation stirred in her heart.

Carrie crouched behind the window. She was curious about how Randy would get up and was tempted to help, but she was afraid that using her telekinetic powers might scare him.

Before she could decide, Randy had already begun to act.

The backyard had many piled-up items, and the wall had horizontal grooves. There was also a corner near the bed for leverage, making it quite easy to climb over.

He stepped on a discarded sofa, then onto a protruding window sill, gripping the wooden slats' gaps, and positioned himself in the corner, slowly moving up.

Once in position, he reached the window sill of Carrie's room and, once Carrie cleared the way, effortlessly rolled into the room.

Looking back, Carrie was awkwardly standing in the corner, as if she were the intruder.

"Don't be nervous."

Randy offered a friendly smile and then glanced around Carrie's room.

It was very plain. Apart from the wardrobe, bed, and desk, there was almost nothing else. There wasn't even a decent mirror, let alone any cosmetics.

There were quite a few decorations, but they were all Bible verses, crosses, and images of Jesus.

"Randy…"

Carrie was stuttering again.

"Good evening, Carrie."

"Good evening."

Carrie kept her head down, fiddling with her fingers in the corner.

Randy merely observed and didn't move around, pulling out a chair by the window and sitting down. The chair creaked as he sat.

On closer inspection, Carrie's room's furniture was old and wooden, looking quite aged.

Even her bed was too small, like a bunk bed in a school dormitory. Carrie must have found it uncomfortable to turn over at night.

"My room's light is broken. Is it okay if I stay here for the night?"

Carrie looked up in shock. "For one night?"

But the next moment, her expression changed drastically. "Randy, my mom is coming. You need to hide!"

Hearing this, Randy's expression changed. He quickly jumped into a nearby wardrobe.

As soon as the wardrobe door was closed, the room door opened.

Randy peered through the crack in the wardrobe door and saw Margaret, in her pajamas and holding a cross, entering the room with a serious expression.

"Carrie? Why are you standing by the window at night instead of sleeping?"

"I… I couldn't sleep and wanted to look at the scenery."