Joel was a little surprised that Valentine had returned with the docunts himself, rather than sending soone from the station.
It seed the man, despite his timid nature, had his principles.
Lu Li took the docunts. They held a list of everyone who had gone missing in Sentry Post and the area around the psychiatric hospital. Several nas had been crossed out—not because they were dead, but because they had been found and were no longer considered missing.
Tucked inside was another docunt Lu Li hadn't asked for: a complete file on Richard, the patient from the psychiatric hospital, which included information on the group he had ford. There were four of them in total, Richard included, and the ghost Yulissis, whom Lu Li had already encountered, was one of them.
Lu Li scanned the docunts thoughtfully, committing the crossed-out nas and the nas of Yulissis's two accomplices to mory before handing the papers back.
“May I conduct my own investigation?”
“Have you figured sothing out?” Joel asked, taking the docunts and passing them to Valentine.
“I have a few ideas,” Lu Li admitted with a nod. “I’d like to test them.”
“You’ve seen what you need to. What are you thinking?” The corners of Joel's mouth lifted slightly. For a mont, it looked as if the perpetually serious man had smiled.
It all went surprisingly smoothly. Lu Li hadn't expected to get the go-ahead so easily.
“I was under the impression you were quite strict about confidentiality,” Lu Li remarked, “and didn’t appreciate outsiders interfering in your cases.”
“That’s true enough,” Joel conceded, his posture relaxing slightly. “But recent events have left us severely short-staffed. The help of an exorcist is more than welco.” His gaze drifted to the wailing figures behind the bars, and his expression clouded over once more. “After all, our goals are the sa... aren’t they?”
His quiet voice was almost drowned out by the soul-shattering screams.
It was as if the spaces on either side of the bars were two different worlds. The gut-wrenching scene seed to have no effect on Lu Li. His face remained a mask of impassivity, utterly devoid of emotion.
“What will happen to them?”
“They’ll be looked after until they die in agony,” Joel said, his eyes fixed on a desperately thrashing figure. “They’re not guilty of anything, so we can’t bring ourselves to end their suffering painlessly. It’s a good thing I’m in the Night’s Watch. If I ever go mad, my comrades will help ...” He trailed off, shaking his head. “But that’s neither here nor there.”
“Do you know anything about ‘the door’?” Lu Li asked suddenly.
“What’s that?”
“Another Anomaly, it seems. Nothing important,” Lu Li said, affecting a casual tone. Joel didn’t give the question a second thought, nor did he seem surprised that Lu Li’s visit hadn’t yielded any new clues.
“Let’s go,” he said to Lu Li and Valentine. “Lingering here isn’t good for anyone.”
“The stars will soon align!!!” A sudden, frenzied shriek sliced through the cacophony of the basent, overriding all the other wails. Vincent thrashed desperately against his restraints, his face a twisted mask. With each sound, his throat—long swollen from ceaseless screaming—expelled a vile mixture of pus, mucus, and blood. The eyes of the man Lu Li had once spoken to bulged from their sockets, and his chest arched so violently it looked as if it might snap. It was his final cry.
The cry died in his throat, and Vincent’s body collapsed heavily onto the stretcher. He whispered, his voice barely a breath, “They’re awake...”
It was over in seconds. By the ti the others rushed to his side, Vincent’s wide eyes had already glazed over, fixed on the rough stone ceiling above. Perhaps he was searching for the sky, or perhaps for the stars he claid were about to fall into place.
There was a brief flurry of activity around the stretcher before soone drew a white sheet over the body—a final confirmation that Officer Vincent was dead.
“Let’s go,” Joel said calmly, turning to the frightened Valentine and the ever-impassive Lu Li.
Stepping out of the police station, Lu Li squinted up at the overcast sky, a fine drizzle misting down from the clouds. He let out a slow breath, as if purging the oppressive atmosphere of the cellar from his lungs.
The rented carriage was waiting nearby, but Lu Li ignored it, turning instead toward a telephone booth.
...
Ring-ring-ring-ring
The telephone inside The Bizarre Detective Agency was ringing off the hook.
A bored-looking Anna drifted into the living room and picked up the receiver. Lu Li's voice ca through the line. “Can you co outside on your own?”
“Um... I’m... I’m a little scared.”
“Alright,” Lu Li said simply, then hung up. His next call was to JoJo. “Go to the detective agency, pick up Anna, and bring her to Sentry Post.”
“No problem! When?”
“Now.”
Lu Li was, of course, determined to find Richard. The inexplicable curse afflicting him was a product of Richard’s design. The fact that Richard had tried to use 'the door' to eliminate him proved he knew sothing. Fortunately, Lu Li now knew a few things himself. Richard's plan was to transplant ghosts into the bodies of living people, and he had succeeded. The ghosts had taken possession of their new hosts and were now living among the unsuspecting populace. But Richard couldn't have known that Lu Li had unraveled his sche. He'd even obtained information from the police about the other mbers of the group: the ghosts O’Connor, Yulissis, and Hall, and the nas of the n whose bodies they'd stolen—Brian and Ruk. Yulissis was the very ghost who had attempted to possess Lu Li, only to be destroyed. Now, with the addresses for Brian and Ruk committed to mory, Lu Li was confident he could pick up Richard’s trail.
...
Knock-knock-knock
A knock echoed from the door of a house in Sentry Post.
A few seconds later, the peephole went dark as soone peered out. A mont after that, it cleared, followed by the soft click of the lock disengaging. The door swung open.
“I’m sorry, who are you?” a bewildered-looking Brian asked. He was dressed in simple house clothes and an apron.
“You should know who I am,” Lu Li replied calmly. To Anna, his words were laden with aning; Lu Li had explained everything to her on the way to Sentry Post.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t believe I do...” Brian mumbled. Peering through thick glasses, he was the very picture of guileless confusion.
“I’m an officer from the Sentry Post police station. We’ve been in contact.”
“Oh, I see! I suppose I didn’t recognize you out of uniform. Please, co in,” Brian said, stepping aside to let the man and the ghost into the house. It was only then that they heard the sizzle of food cooking in the kitchen.
“Just a mont, I’m almost done,” Brian said with a good-natured smile, rubbing his nose with the back of his hand before hurrying back to the kitchen.
“He seems normal enough...” Anna whispered, drifting closer to Lu Li while keeping her presence concealed.
“Wicked people don’t go around with a sign on their foreheads,” Lu Li murmured, his eyes sweeping over the cozy room, “especially not when they’re wearing soone else’s body.”
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