Klein sat down in the armchair in the living room in the evening. Warming himself by the fireplace, he picked up the materials that Isengard's assistant had just delivered.
That morning, his ideas had received praise from the renowned detective. Kaslana immediately expressed that she needed similar materials. Stuart sighed softly, remarking that he had believed Klein was an excellent detective from the calm composure he had shown in the Atru case, but he never expected him to be this outstanding.
At the same time, he told Klein that if he needed manpower or help, he could go to him. Stuart had many friends in Backlund's detective circles.
Isengard Stanton also promised to immediately contact the police department, striving to provide the corresponding materials to the detectives in need before nightfall.
He truly was a man of his word.
At the next Tarot Club gathering, I need to have "The World" ask Little Sun for details about the Sequence 6 "Demon," specifically what abilities a Beyonder of this Sequence possesses. I didn't want to get involved before and forgot to gather the intel. Now that I've decided to help, I need to be prepared, just in case I encounter danger without even knowing what's happening... Klein pondered for a few seconds, lowered his head, and, under the light of the gas lamp, flipped through the unsolved serial homicides in the entire Loen Kingdom over the past twenty years.
It was much fewer than he had expected.
Four in Backlund, five in other cities combined. That only made nine in total!
"Hmm, although the concept of DNA analysis hasn't appeared in this world yet, and it lacks many necessary forensic investigation techniques, the Emperor's efforts have led to a relatively mature science of 'dactylography.' Besides, this world has supernatural methods like channeling, divination, and dreamwalking. For isolated murder cases that don't involve nobles, tycoons, or officials, the police departments often don't seek help from the Beyonders squads of the three churches. However, serial murders create a terrible impact and easily cause panic, so they will inevitably make the wisest choice logically. This explains why only a few serial homicides remained unsolved in twenty years." Klein quickly figured out the reasons.
He gathered his thoughts and went through the cases one by one.
Given the lack of sufficient information for divination, he initially selected two serial homicides that might be related to the current case, intending to use them as a starting point.
The first case occurred four years ago. There were five victims, all prostitutes who were single and had one child. They had been tortured before death but showed no signs of having sex.
The responsible police officers believed that the murderer must have known these prostitutes; otherwise, it would be impossible to precisely target the type with a single child. They started with neighbors and regular clients of the prostitutes, identified several suspects, but ultimately failed to find the real murderer.
Although the dossier only briefly mentioned this point, Klein could clearly see that they had sought help from Beyonders of the three churches, but unfortunately, they still couldn't crack the case.
By using the Beyonder abilities of the "Abyss" pathway, it's not against mysticism to see the degenerate traces of a woman, nor to tell that she is a prostitute. However, there's no way to tell that she is currently single with exactly one child. The police's reasoning was correct, so where was the problem? Could the real murderer, like me, be able to resist dreamwalking, divination, and channeling, thus evading the investigation of mid- to low-sequence Nighthawks or Punishers?
It was possible. Although the major churches are not lacking in their understanding of "serial killers," the culprit might have had other fortuitous encounters! Klein analyzed from his own perspective, picking out some issues.
I'm analyzing them in a "fellow criminal" way... I'm not living up to the surname Moriarty... he mocked himself and decided that the priority targets were still the four suspects.
"Let Mister Stanton use the police to determine the current addresses and status of those four suspects, and ask Stuart to find some support. I won't show myself directly, so as not to run into official Beyonders. Once the situation is clear, I will collect personal items of the suspects and conduct metaphysical reasoning Above the Gray Fog." Klein quickly drafted a plan.
The second case occurred eleven years ago. At that time, four dismemberment cases appeared in succession. Originally, these cases were not consolidated until the police suspected a connection based on the method of handling the bodies, confirming it as a serial homicide. The victims were people returning home late from work, both men and women. Robbery wasn't the motive, and they shared no common relationships.
"This is a problem caused by delaying the investigation. If a 'channeler' had been brought in right away, the resentful souls of the dead might have even gathered around the murderer... Of course, it's also possible that the murderer 'killed' the souls as well, just like in this current case... The victims' bodies should be nothing but ashes now, making it very difficult to obtain a medium..." Klein rubbed his temples, saw that it was getting dark, temporarily stopped thinking about the case, got up from the armchair, and left Minsk Street.
He still had something to do tonight!
He needed to go to the Harvest Church on Rose Street in the Bridge South District to find Bishop Utravsky and strive to obtain the "Pharmacist" potion formula. He had already divined whether this matter was dangerous.
For Klein, having a "Pharmacist" as a subordinate would be extremely helpful.
He would get injured, fall ill, and encounter enemies who could harm him. A "Pharmacist" that could be found at any time would be his strong backing.
After making a circuit in the East Borough to change his appearance, Klein took the steam subway, crossed the Tussock River, and arrived at the Bridge South District.
Along the way, the dimness of the subway line and the accompanying gas lamps created an impressive scene.
Switching to a public carriage, Klein arrived at Rose Street and immediately spotted the narrow Harvest Church without needing to search.
This golden-yellow church had a prominent spire and a Sacred Emblem of Life engraved on the outer wall, consisting of a simple drawing of an infant surrounded by symbols like wheat stalks, fresh water, and springs. It was completely different from the surrounding buildings.
At this moment, the church was dimly lit and seemed devoid of congregants.
Klein infiltrated from the side, carefully daubing his face with paint instead of relying solely on his ability to create illusions.
Inside the church hall, rows of seats were neatly arranged. At the very front was a huge Sacred Emblem of Life, and on both sides, candles were lit.
On the frontmost pew sat a tall, middle-aged man in a brown cassock, around forty or fifty years old.
Just sitting there, he resembled a small mountain, giving an immense sense of pressure.