Apostle of Cthulhu

"Suicide? How could this happen?" This news was beyond Si Wei's expectations, but it seemed reasonable. "Have you determined the conclusion?"

"Although the forensic doctor has not yet reached a definite result, the sheriff has already reached a conclusion and is waiting for you to rush to the scene to agree with his conclusion."

You need to agree yourself. It is obvious that this matter is related to the "unknowns" that Si Wei is studying. Si Wei did not delay for a moment. After saying goodbye to Dana, he stopped a carriage on the road and returned to Ms. Mullin's residence in a hurry.

As expected, Si Wei and the other two had just arrived at the scene when they were surrounded by cordons again. And this time there were more onlookers, and it was very difficult for them to squeeze into the crowd.

Si Wei could understand that there were so many onlookers. Two murders occurred in a small town within twelve hours. How could the people feel relieved and continue to live?

So now Sheriff Morton is under great pressure and must solve the case as soon as possible, otherwise his position will be in jeopardy.

Jia Ya adhered to the principle of a lady and would never force her way into the scene when the crowd was so crowded, so only Si Wei and the police officer had to work very hard to set up the cordon and enter the area where Ms. Mullin lived.

Morton had been waiting for a long time while smoking a cigarette. When he saw Si Wei being brought in, the anxiety on his face suddenly eased a little, as if Si Wei was his biggest savior, "Mr. Si Wei! You are finally here! Trouble you to come again at this time."

"It's okay, Chief Morton, I happen to be concerned about this case now." Si Wei tidied up his messy clothes, and then said seriously, "Can I go to the scene first?"

Morton nodded and made way, "Of course, I didn't let the evidence collectors destroy the scene, just waiting for you to see if there is anything worth discovering."

Si Wei pushed open the door. There were very few police officers in the house, which was also intentional by Morton.

He first checked the door lock, and there was no sign of damage, and there was no sign of fighting in the visible area.

Mullin committed suicide in her bedroom. Si Wei did not rush to the crime room first. Instead, he carefully observed other rooms and confirmed that there was no sign of violent intrusion before coming to the bedroom.

Before he stepped into the bedroom, a strong smell of blood mixed with the smell of gunpowder rushed into Si Wei's nose. There seemed to be something else in the air, but Si Wei could not identify it.

Morton also pinched his nose, saying that it was difficult to accept the smell.

Ms. Mullin lived in an apartment, and her bedroom was not very spacious and a little crowded. A single bed, a desk, and a wardrobe occupied most of the space, and the area for landing was very small.

Mullin was lying on the desk now. The small wooden desk was covered with dark red bloodstains. A pistol that Si Wei had never seen was held in Mullin's hand, and the muzzle was also stained with bloodstains.

"The bullet penetrated the skull of the deceased and then shot into the wall. The bullet has been taken away and has no value. It is a very common bullet on the market." Morton said, "The time of death was three hours ago. The nearby residents heard the gunshots and called the police. When we arrived here, it was already like this."

Three hours?

Si Wei estimated the time, which was about the time when he and Jia left the apartment and went to the cemetery.

In other words, Mullin chose to commit suicide after the two left.

While thinking, he lowered his head to observe Mullin's death. At this time, Si Wei suddenly realized that Mullin seemed to be pressed under something, so he asked Morton: "Do you mind if I lift the body?"

Morton nodded, "Okay."

Facing the body, Si Wei did not panic. He reached out and gently grabbed Mullin's arm, and then lifted it up at a small angle.

As expected, Mullin had a notebook pressed on his chest. The pages were brand new, and it looked like a new one.

Si Wei pulled it out. The notebook was not too thick. The cover was stained with blood, but the pages were not affected much and could be turned over normally.

There was only one sentence written on the page facing up, with sloppy handwriting and crazy strokes, which gave people a sincere chill.

[No one can escape the fate of death, even a dried corpse].

"What does this mean?" Morton did not understand the meaning behind this sentence, so he asked Si Wei, "Professor Si Wei, does this have anything to do with your research?"

Si Wei did not understand, because all the pens were placed in the pen holder in the corner of the desk, and each type of pen was neatly arranged according to the rules, which was completely unlike what a completely crazy person would arrange.

The most critical point is that in his field of vision, the large pool of blood around Ms. Mullin's body... like the phenomenon he saw before, there was a circle of golden lines wrapped around it.

Similarly, Sheriff Morton could not see this phenomenon, as if only Si Wei could see it.

Combined with the bloodstains from the last time, Si Wei came to a not-so-absolute conclusion, which is: for people whose SAN value is completely zero, their blood will be wrapped in a circle of golden lines in Si Wei's field of vision.

This is just a hypothesis, after all, he cannot be sure that the owner of the bloodstains found yesterday must have died in the secret of Oxins Street.

"This is probably one of the reasons why Ms. Mullin committed suicide," Si Wei flipped through the pages of the notebook again and found that only that page was written, and the rest was blank. "In short, this incident should have a lot to do with the corpse attack that happened last night."

Morton nodded, took out a palm-sized notebook, and began to write down some things.

At this time, Jia Ya, who appeared out of nowhere, opened the bedroom closet and said, "Sure enough, it's the same as what I thought..."

Both Si Wei and Morton were attracted by her words. The former came to Jia Ya's side and looked at the things in the closet.

The closet is divided into two layers, the bottom layer is only about 25 to 30 centimeters, and the upper layer occupies most of the space.

However, what is placed in the closet is not clothes, but a lot of strange items that Si Wei has never seen and can't name.

"This..." Morton looked serious when he saw the scene in front of him.

There were a lot of things stuffed into the closet, the most eye-catching of which was a strangely shaped wooden frame, on which a milky white stone was hung, carved with patterns that would make people sleepless all night just by looking at them.

There were some black flowers placed on both sides of the wooden frame, and an indescribable fragrance emanated from the clusters of flowers, which made people feel relaxed and happy, but also made people feel a little cold.

There were also some other things such as dolls, crystal balls, and biological specimens, which Si Wei had basically never seen, or rarely saw in daily life.

Due to his "professor" status, Si Wei could not ask directly what these things were, so he could only ask in a roundabout way: "What did you find?"

"These things constitute the simplest spiritual ritual," Jia Ya lifted her long hair behind her ears and said with an indifferent expression, "Many people want to be a missionary and yearn to talk directly with the 'unknowns'. But their own inspiration is not high, so there are rumors that this ritual can improve inspiration."

Morton added: "The probability of this ritual enhancing inspiration is very small, and the record of being directly summoned by the 'unknowns' is also extremely rare. But the side effects of these rituals are huge, and it is very likely to lead to complete madness and even suicide."

So... the reason why Ms. Mulin committed suicide was not just because of the corpse attack last night, but because of this ritual?

Si Wei did not dare to draw a conclusion easily, but when he looked at Jia Ya again, the latter's eyes told him... things were not that simple.