Capítulo 108: Serial Killer (7)
Edited by: Kuro and Lille
Thanks again certain Somebody for completing the ko-fi goal. I also want to thank everyone who also chipped in with the goal (the first 50% of this goal) You are all amazing! I love you <3
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A couple of days had passed and there was breaking news. A paralegal and a lawyer were reported missing. The detectives and government agents were on the case, trying to find out any leads.
In doing so, someone leaked that the two were having an affair. There was some speculation that they had simply run off together.
The heartbroken Mrs. Miller who was searching and hoping for her husband to return home was soon left with her heart shattered. It was the first time she had heard of the affair; somehow, it all made sense to her.
The long business trips, smelling like shampoo when he came home, not wanting to have sex with her. All the dots connected and the tears she had once shed for him did not fall anymore. Her kids, who had seen the phases that she went through, felt cold and distant from the situation their father was in. They were all teenagers and young adults, their father was dead to them at that point.
The police were about to rule the case as a simple elopement, but a letter had arrived at Grey's desk.
He was a bit confused because there was nothing stating who it was from, but it was addressed to him in fine print. It looked like it had been typed on a computer.
He left it on his desk as he stared at it. He slowly put his gloves on and ignored everyone around him who was curious as to what he was doing.
'System, are there any powders in the envelope?'
[Responding to Grey, there isn't. There are no fingerprints on it. How interesting.]
'Thanks.' He noted that he would have to send the letter to the forensics team.
He picked up the letter and opened it. There was a single sheet of copy paper in it, perfectly folded into three. On the page, the words were in Times New Roman font, font size 12, and even double-spaced like an MLA formatted paper.
He read the letter out loud:
"Dear Myles,
"It seems the police may have been led astray when trying to find the paralegal and lawyer. Though they were having an affair, I have indeed kidnapped and killed them, and I have hidden their bodies.
"I want to play a little game with you. Like a treasure hunt. Wouldn't that be fun?
"When I give you the clue to the first location and you find the first body part, you will be given a clue to the next location there and so on. Don't worry, I made this game fun, so they aren't hidden in the same place. Actually, they aren't even in this city.
"Since I promised I would give you a hint, then I will have one at the end of this letter, but for now, please read what I have to say.
"Myles, I am watching you and have always been watching you. One day, we will finally be together. Just you and I, alone in the perfect world that I have made.
"So don't try to run because no matter how far you run, or how hard you try to hide, I will always find you.
"Yours truly,
"Your secret admirer.
"P.S. Your first clue is this, so read carefully:
"There are mountains that could almost reach the heavens. Ah, poor lost soul. Standing by a tree with one foot. How unfortunate they could never see the sun or the moon. The heavens at the summit are still away from where they are. The biggest tree blocks their path, but it protects them from the rain."
There was a snowflake, the same one that was on the bodies and the crime scenes, on the letter made in red ink, or with blood. They wouldn't know until it was tested.
The room had gone silent when he read the letter out loud. He looked up to see Agent Freddy in front of his desk, looking down at the letter with furrowed brows.
He snapped out of it when he realized that Myles had stopped reading.
He gritted his teeth and pointed at the officers. "You, get the forensics team to analyze the letter and have them send me a picture of the letter. You, check the cameras and find out who dropped this letter here. Busy yourselves!"
Everyone scattered, busying themselves as an officer came in to take the letter from Grey's hands. Grey just sat at his desk and watched people run around like headless chickens trying to find out how the letter had gotten onto his desk without anyone knowing. They even checked his desk to see if there were any unknown fingerprints. The floor was also not spared as the officers taped and photographed the floor for any footprints.
When the officers started to leave his desk, Agent Freddy finally smiled at him, but it seemed really cold, not reaching the corner of his eyes. "Let's go talk to my team, okay?"
Grey nodded, not phased by Agent Freddy's face. "Understood."
Caleb, who had been sitting next to Grey the whole time, followed them to the conference room. The team was already there and Agent Ark was on the screen. He was munching on chips as he stared into the camera.
Agent Freddy sat down at the head of the desk and sighed. "In a bit, we will be following the clues in the letter. Myles, there will definitely be cameras in each location, so we have to bring you even if it may be dangerous. If you don't show up, we don't know what they will do. Are you okay with this?"
"Of course. This all started because of someone around me, so I may as well end it."
"Boss, I got the picture of the letter. Putting it up... Now." Agent Ark clicked a button and the letter showed up.
Everyone looked at the letter and read the P.S. clue in their heads:
There are mountains that could almost reach the heavens. Ah, poor lost soul. Standing by a tree with one foot. How unfortunate they could never see the sun or the moon. The heavens at the summit are still away from where they are. The biggest tree blocks their path, but it protects them from the rain.
Dr. Mia had already analyzed the clue. "There are things we can definitely be sure of. The location is the tallest mountain in this country; the body part hidden is someone's foot; it is hidden under something or in something; it's not near the summit; lastly, it is located at the biggest tree on this mountain."
"They really held our hand on this one," Agent Yui said.
Agent Donnie said, "We also don't know which foot or whose foot it is."
"That's true, but we don't need to know that to find the other parts of the bodies."
"Yeah, but we don't know how many parts they had split the bodies into. This treasure hunt game can go on for a very long time if we don't hurry up."
They were having conversations amongst themselves as Caleb and Myles stayed silent.
Caleb nudged Grey lightly before putting his head on Grey's shoulder. "Myles, I'm hungry. Do you want me to go get breakfast burritos for you too?" It was still early in the morning.
"Yeah, if you could, that would be good."
"Can you two be serious?" Agent Freddy interrupted their conversation. "Anyway, as I was saying, I invited Dr. Reynolds to come with us to the different locations to help with the bodies and to properly store them to send them to the morgue. Originally, I wanted Dr. Hendrick to come as he has been a medical examiner for this city the longest, but he's older and won't be able to keep up with us going up the mountain. We are waiting for Dr. Reynolds to come now."
When Grey heard Dr. Reynolds' name his eyes brightened up for just a moment before going back to normal. "Understood."
"While we wait, I'm going to get breakfast for Myles and I. Do you all want anything?" Caleb said with a toothy grin.
All the agents just stared at him in disbelief. They were probably thinking that the man was crazy for wanting to eat when they had a case to follow!
"No, we already ate. Quickly go get your food." Agent Freddy answered and turned away. He couldn't believe that this was how the detectives were, but he couldn't deny that Myles was one of the best looking at his profile. Since Caleb was being taught by Myles, he knew that Caleb was also capable. It was just... They had eccentric personalities.
Caleb left to go get the breakfast burritos from their favorite stall while Grey stayed behind because Agent Freddy had something to give him.
"Myles, here is the tracker you can put in your underwear. It's fully charged right now, but make sure you charge it once every day. Never leave home without it. Not until we catch this person."
"Understood." Grey accepted the tracker and went to the bathroom to put it on.
When he came back, Dr. Reynolds was there with his briefcase. He was wearing his usual lab coat but this time, he was also wearing his glasses.
"I need to get new contacts..." Dr. Reynolds answered Grey who didn't say anything, but he somehow knew what he was thinking about. Myles was staring at his face so intently, that it wasn't wrong to assume what he was thinking.
"You look really good in glasses," Grey replied with no shame. Hmm, his husband was very handsome in every world. He might have a glasses fetish just staring at Dr. Reynolds with his glasses on.
Dr. Reynolds was baffled and a slight blush appeared on his cheeks, but he still smiled. "Thanks."
"Enough with your lover's talk. We will brief you in." Dr. Mia grumbled. Just looking at the two handsome men staring at each other so passionately made her feel lonely and sad.
Dr. Reynolds was getting briefed while Caleb quietly slipped inside the room and handed Grey his breakfast burrito.
He whispered. "I got you an extra one because it's your favorite special today."
His favorite special included hashbrowns. He couldn't say no to potatoes.
"Thanks." Myles was pleasantly surprised. Today was a good day for him!
"Alright, let's move out!" Agent Freddy exclaimed and headed out the door. Everyone followed behind him.
It was going to be a long month trying to find all the body parts...
*****
The highest mountain in the country was Mt. Hylie. It was named after the first woman who scaled the mountain and placed her mark. From then on, countless women climbed the mountain to find strength in themselves as Ms. Hylie had.
The mountain wasn't the tallest in the world. It had a forest going almost halfway up the mountain but never reached the summit because it was too cold. All in all, it was a decent-sized mountain that dominated the area. There were no other mountains around Mt. Hylie. It was quite strange.
Grey, Caleb, Dr. Reynolds, and the rest of the government agents and police officers were at the base of the mountain talking with the rangers who ensured the safety of the mountain. They hadn't seen any suspicious figures walking around, but they still needed to check the mountain anyway.
"Have the drones arrived yet? Have them circle the mountain to find the biggest tree. We don't have time to search this mountain inside and out on foot." Agent Freddy gave out some orders.
Meanwhile, Grey was talking to System 225. 'Do you know where the body part and tree are?'
[Scanning the mountain for Grey. There are a lot of bodies on this mountain, but the one that is only just a limb, well foot, is... Turn 32° to your right. Keep walking in that direction and you will find the biggest tree. Considering your walking pace, if it is consistent, you will be there within 30 minutes. That is the point where the sun hits the mountain the longest, which is why that tree is the largest.]
Grey looked in that direction and peered into the distance. System 225 was right, he could vaguely make out a tree that was taller than the rest.
Dr. Reynolds noticed Myles looking intently at something so he walked over to his side and tapped him on his arm. "Do you see something?"
"I just have a feeling that the tree over there is the biggest tree on this mountain."
He looked at where Myles was pointing but even with his glasses on he couldn't see that far. It was a struggle that he had myopia, but it was weird that Myles could even see that far because the man was also wearing glasses.
Caleb, who was munching on his burrito next to Grey, gulped down and smiled. "Wanna go over and give it a check?"
"We probably should wait for the drones..." Dr. Reynolds replied.
"Check out what?" Agent Donnie came over, curious about their conversation.
"Myles says that he thinks that's the biggest tree on the mountain." Caleb pointed in the same direction as Myles. He couldn't see but he definitely trusted Myles. To him, Myles was almost akin to a Male God.
Agent Donnie squinted his eyes in that direction but he couldn't see the tree they were pointing at. Honestly, he couldn't tell the trees apart at all!
"It would be best if we stick together..." He was muttering to himself, but he was really curious and he also wanted to go over and check it out!
Agent Freddy who overheard them sighed. "Donnie, bring Myles and some others to the tree he is talking about. When you get there and if you find anything, let us know. We will let you know when the drones come."
"Yes, Sir!"
Agent Donnie brought Grey, Caleb, Dr. Reynolds, Dr. Mia, Agent Yui, and four other police accompanied them and walked in the direction Grey was pointing at. As they were walking, he talked to System 225 to make sure they were going in the right direction.
As System 255 had said, they made it to the tree within 30 minutes. Everyone instantly knew the tree was the biggest in the area. For one, there were no other trees within a 20-foot radius of the tree. It was like the other trees formed a circle around the tree, trying to outgrow it, but because of the location, the tree had long past the others. It was very shady and cool under the tree. Somehow it was really quiet like there were no animals or bugs in the area. It was quite strange.
Agent Donnie had messaged Agent Freddy that they had arrived and that he would let them know if they found anything. Agent Freddy replied that the drones had arrived 10 minutes ago and they confirmed that the tree they were at was the largest, so they were on their way.
Before anyone could move closer to the tree, Grey immediately stopped everyone.
"Don't move just yet. There aren't any noticeable footprints right now, but I can see a slight discoloration in the ground leading up to the tree. We must get the forensics team to analyze it, so no one should disrupt this area." He held out both his arms in the direction of the tree to show everyone the width of the area he wanted everyone to stay out of. He somehow almost walked in the same pathway as the killer.
Caleb took out two wooden stakes and put them in the ground according to Grey's instructions.
Dr. Mia was staring intently at Grey and couldn't help but marvel at his attention to detail and superior eyesight. Wait, wasn't he wearing glasses? Was it even humanly possible?
Well, she wasn't entirely wrong. All the hosts were given heightened senses to make their jobs easier. Before, the system and Hosts were given a lot of abilities and such like superior memory to help souls out quicker. There were so many souls that needed to be healed so they had to work fast to get it done. All of that carried over even when he was in the Villain System and out of it.
Plus, he already had experience as a detective and had lived in the wild. Seeing disturbances in the soil was nothing to him.
Everyone made sure they didn't walk in the area Grey had pointed at as one of the police officers who was on the forensics team, taped the area and the tree. Grey could see an area by the roots of the tree where someone had dug up the soil. There was some moist soil in the ground that was exposed at the top.
He pointed to the area for someone to take a picture of. "This is probably where the limb has been buried." He moved his finger in a circle to show how big it was. "Judging from the size of the hole, it should be just the foot and ankle and not the whole leg."
From that moment onwards, the agents finally understood why he was the best detective in the country. If he could become an agent...
"Let's check the surrounding area to make sure there are no notes or letters hidden. Be careful of your surroundings. There may be a camera nearby. If you get too close, it will explode."
'System, do you know where that camera is?'
[Scanning the area... Host, it is in the biggest tree on a branch. It has a perfect 270° view of you.]
'Tsk.' Grey felt a bit annoyed, but what could he do? He didn't ask System 225 about the letter as he thought it was best to find it himself while they all waited for the others to come.
"There are no letters in the vicinity." Dr. Mia sighed. It was probably with the foot.
"We can probably assume it is with the foot." Agent Donnie nodded. He knew it was best to wait for the others to arrive before starting to dig. Plus they didn't bring the digging equipment. The rest of the forensic team had it.
Dr. Reynolds was standing near Grey and couldn't take his eyes off of him. Seeing him in a different scene, like doing his job, made Grey look very handsome. He had only seen Grey messing around with Dr. Hendrick, so it was strange but quite breathtaking to see him serious.
"You are staring holes into my head." Grey turned to look at Dr. Reynolds. "Is there something you need?"
"You just look really handsome when you are working."
Grey had a slight blush on his face. "Jeez. I could say the same thing to you though."
"Stop flirting." Agent Freddy who had just arrived had to see such a scene.
Grey couldn't help but mutter that Agent Freddy just ruined his moment. Dr. Reynolds heard the whole thing and wanted to laugh out loud.
"I assume you all found the foot?" Agent Freddy looked at Agent Donnie who he made the leader of their little group.
"Yes, Sir! Myles was the one who noticed it so we have put up the tape. We also checked the surrounding area and didn't notice any letters or clues."
"Alright. Forensics, start collecting evidence in the area that has been taped."
"Yes, Sir!"
The forensics team collected all sorts of data from the soil to the hole around the foot. When they dug up the foot, it was in a nice airtight sealed bag. On top of it, there was a cloth.
Opening the cloth, they noticed 2 items with the foot: a necklace and a letter.
Agent Freddy had them hand the letter to Grey, who was wearing gloves. If someone else opened it and the killer knew, he would probably get mad.
The letter had the same address as the other letter. When he opened it, he was a bit shocked to see what was written.
PENSAMENTOS DOS CRIADORES 
MakusCorner
MakusCorner kuro_kama: aaaaahhhhh, the cliffhanger!
Lille: (Grey and his hubby flirting at a crime scene is a mood XDDD)
Grandpa Marky: They can literally flirt anywhere honestly.
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