The black police officer was a young man with a slightly chubby body shape. He had a good-natured look that suggested a friendly smile.But at this time, he was not able to smile at all. He ran over, trembling and sweating all over. His back, armpits, and chest were all soaked, and even if it was a warm sunny day, his whole body was trembling like it was on the coldest winter day.
The dullest person could see that he was in intense fear right now.
"Ronnie, what happened? Didn"t you go out on the field with Nader just now for a murder case?"
The white detective in a sweater approached him first and asked.
Everyone in the office saw that something was wrong, and all of them gathered around. And the policeman called Ronnie obviously couldn"t bother with the greetings, but directly looked at Stana, and started speaking with his lips trembling, while handing over a photograph that was tightly grasped in his palm.
"In… in the morning, we received a report saying that there was a thick blood smell and a bad stink in an old house at 18th Tulip Street. It was suspected that a murder had happened. Nader and I rushed to examine the scene, but after we entered we saw— saw these…"
"I figured that such a case should be—belong to you guys."
Buzz.
Listening to his description, everyone looked at the picture that had already been crumpled by him.
Then, many hisses came out of their mouths. Everyone couldn"t help but hold their breaths as their pupils shrank severely. Even the old detective Gideon, who had wise, sharp eyes and who clearly had a lot of experiences, couldn"t help but frown at this moment, showing a look of horror.
Even the forensic Renee showed a shocked expression after she looked.
Clearly, they had never seen such a scene before.
Tang Qi wasn"t far away. After a glance, he frowned as well.
The photo showed the interior view of an old house. The person who took the photo was either an elderly person or had hands shaking from the fear, resulting in a blurry picture, but everyone who had seen the photo could definitely understand the mood of the photographer.
The packed living room and narrow staircase had decorations that could be vaguely identified to be in the style of decades ago. There was nothing wrong with those. What horrified everyone was what covered these things.
Blood!
Whether it be the staircase, the walls, the floor, or even the chandelier on the ceiling, everything that could be seen was almost all covered by slimy blood, in which one could vaguely see pieces of flesh, curly hair, broken teeth, fragments of organs… and even one or two toes.
When everyone looked at this terrible scene, a cold aura, like a slowly creeping hair strand, came entangling towards them. A subconscious coldness and trembling appeared on everyone, making them desperately want to look away.
But creepily, even that required a lot of willpower.
And they had just given one look at the photograph?
It was no wonder that Ronnie, who returned from the scene, would be so afraid.
This was probably— No, this must be a scene from h.e.l.l?
Everyone fell silent.
"We"re leaving. Immediately." Stana"s sharp words suddenly sounded. She took the photo straight from the black police officer and started to pack up equipment. She pinned the gun carrier with the Wine Red Rhino in place and started going out.
Nathan, who was also in charge of fieldwork, and detective Javier, the black man with curly hair, also woke up from the horror and followed in a hurry. The old man Gideon went to contact the on-site forensics team.
But before them, Tang Qi"s figure was already walking side by side with Stana.
"Tang Qi, this is your first day in this position, and it hasn"t been confirmed that this case belongs to the area of your consultation. You don"t have to come."
Tang Qi was a little surprised that Stana actually stopped him from following.
Glancing at the remaining terror on Stana"s face, Tang Qi smiled lightly; the scholarly smile soon dissipated the nervousness in Stana"s heart. He lifted the frame of his gla.s.ses with a finger and said, "Isn"t this the moment that you hired me for? At the cost of faking the letter of appointment?
"Let"s go. I look forward to what loot I will get this time."
After Tang Qi finished, he took the photos from Stana, slowly walked out of the police station, and got into the police car. This time, he chose the back seat.
"Interesting aura!" Tang Qi looked at the scene in the photo in his hand and said quietly.
Although his ability couldn"t allow him insight into the truth through photos, there were indeed things that interested him in the photo.
In the middle of the packed living room, the place where a table used to be was cleared. Though most of it was covered by blood and pieces of flesh, in the rare gaps, Tang Qi managed to see some strange symbols, burnt candles, and a blood-stained dagger.
All these traces revealed one thing that happened in the living room.
A ritual. Someone initiated an evil ritual there.
There was no knowing whether they did it on purpose.
The crime scene was at 18th Tulip Street, on the fringe of Midtown district. It was the kind of place in decline amidst an area of prosperity. The people living in these streets had the kind of economic conditions that were much better than those of the residents of the Bronx District, but still not enough for a life of luxury, yet they desperately crowded into the Midtown district.
The police car did not sound the whistle but drove quietly for a while and soon crossed the bustling avenue and entered Tulip Street.
There were no tulips here.
There were only old houses and large, twisted trees that had lost all their leaves. Because there was no one to clean them, it looked somewhat desolate.
Perhaps it was due to the atmosphere, or perhaps due to their mood, but when the party got out of the police cars and walked towards the cordoned-off house, the air suddenly became cold as though an invisible gloomy wind was penetrating their flesh, rubbing against their bones.
"Why is it suddenly cold? This doesn"t feel good. Should I have listened to Gran and put on the amulet?" It was Javier with big white teeth who was muttering to himself, but right now, he couldn"t quite smile, so the big white teeth couldn"t be seen either.
Nathan beside him laughed dryly and was about to make a joke when the police detectives who had been standing by the cordon line walked up together. Heading them was a chubby black man, probably Detective Vader.
Clearly, he had received a call prior to this. Seeing the group approaching, he walked towards them rapidly. His face was pale and upset as he said, "You—you"re finally here. I"ll leave it to you, I—I"m off."
As he finished, he turned around to summon his subordinates to leave.
But right at this moment, his face suddenly changed, and he asked fiercely, "Where"s James? Can"t he…?"
Hearing his question, several subordinates looked almost simultaneously at the old house that had been cordoned off.
And right at this moment, an extremely shrill scream suddenly came from the inside of the house.