The shop was warm and comfortable, but Jenkins felt a knot of unease in his stomach. He prayed that his act of giving away the flower had nothing to do with the man's death. The alternative was too awful to consider.
Captain Bincy sighed and shook his head.
"The situation is serious. The man's name is Sinwick Stan, a wealthy merchant living on the east side of the city. Today, he invited a beautiful lady to his home as a guest, and the two of them spent a long time in his study.
During that period, the servants heard nothing, but they stayed in the room for an exceptionally long time. About two hours ago, the family's pet dog began barking incessantly at the study door. That's when the servants finally worked up the courage to go inside and check, only to find Mr. Stan's head... Poor maid. I just came from there. She was absolutely terrified."
"What about the woman and the rest of the body? Were they taken?"
Jenkins asked urgently.
"Based on the current situation... it's hard to explain."
He didn't seem to know how to phrase it, so he put his hat back on and gestured for Jenkins to leave with him.
"My apologies, Jenkins, but I need you to come with me to the scene of the crime to confirm a few things. It won't take long. The church's carriage will take you directly back to the cathedral afterward. I know you have your evening classes."
Jenkins nodded in agreement, but asked with a hint of caution.
"So far, there's no sign of that."
With that, he turned to Papa Oliver and added, "Jenkins is leaving with me. I swear to the Sage, I will ensure his safety."
"I think you should be more worried about your own,"
Papa Oliver muttered to himself, then shooed the two men and the cat out the door.
Captain Bincy hadn't taken the photograph of the decapitated man; it still lay slanted on the counter. Papa Oliver frowned, looking at the man in the picture whose eyes were wide open in death, but he couldn't begin to guess what had transpired.
"Audrey, I need you to perform a divination on this matter. Don't look for the cause, the outcome, or the process. I only want to know the name of the woman who disappeared."
At half-past five, Miss Audrey arrived at the antique shop for her meeting with Papa Oliver. She heard the request as soon as she pushed open the door, and without asking why, she immediately began her preparations.
"If that's truly the case,"
Papa Oliver lamented softly, "then this is a most unfortunate business indeed."
Chocolate flicked his tail.
The crime scene was quite a distance from Pops Antique Shop, which was located near the Docklands. It took Jenkins and Captain Bincy half an hour to cross most of the city to reach Mr. Stan's home.
He must have been a very successful merchant, because the house was like a small estate, complete with a sizable garden. The building had three floors and was over three times the size of Jenkins's own home, and he employed more than ten servants. Get full chapters from novel{f}ire.net
At that moment, those servants were standing fearfully by the wall in the foyer, waiting, while the building bustled with uniformed detectives and officers. Of course, there were a few impostors among them, such as Jenkins and Captain Bincy.
"This uniform is a bit too small. I feel like someone's squeezing my wrists."
He adjusted the cuffs of his sleeves as he followed Captain Bincy to the second floor, having to dodge a group of officers hurrying down from the third. But those officers were clearly not real police either. Jenkins recognized several of them as Gravediggers from the Church of Death and End.
The study was located on the second floor of the building. After climbing the stairs, they followed the corridor to the third door on the left, which was the scene of the crime. The door stood wide open, a young officer guarding the entrance and monitoring who came and went.
He clearly recognized Captain Bincy—or at least the stars on his shoulder—and nodded, letting them pass.
"This study is very well soundproofed. With the door closed, it's hard to hear anything from the outside... Look here."
By now, poor Mr. Stan's head had been removed. The carpet was rolled up and moved to the side to allow the police to mark out the body's position. The head had been found near the piano. The piano's lid was open, and the bench was pulled back slightly.
There were no signs of a struggle in the room. Whatever had happened, it must have been quick.
"I'm actually quite curious, how did you find me? My connection to this case seems minimal at best."
Jenkins glanced around casually as he asked in a low voice.
"Because aside from the missing body, something else vanished from here—a vibrant red rose. The servants remembered the flower vividly. It's rare to see such a brilliant flower in winter, and after the deceased brought it home, it showed no signs of wilting."
"So, you found me because of the flower?"
"Yes. The servant who drove the carriage recognized you from your photograph in the newspaper. Besides, based on the description, it could only have been you. Who else in the Nolan diocese has such an ability?"
There was one thing Captain Bincy left unsaid: it was no surprise at all that something so terrible was connected to Jenkins.
Although it appeared that police officers were investigating the crime, everyone currently in the room was an Enchanter. They came from the Church of the Myriad Phenomena of the Starry Sky, the Church of Knowledge and Books, and the Church of Death and End. The deceased was a believer in the Righteous God of the Universal Star, the area fell under the jurisdiction of the Sage Church, and for any death involving the supernatural, the believers of Death and End were usually called upon to help handle the body and prevent any bizarre transformations caused by supernatural forces.
The team leaders from the other churches all recognized Jenkins from the various incidents over the past six months, so a simple handshake served as a greeting. Captain Bincy had summoned Jenkins specifically to confirm the matter of the flower.
"We can confirm that supernatural forces were involved. A tall, dark figure was witnessed leaping across the rooftops in this neighborhood around the time of the incident. It was clearly not human. The question now is why your flower disappeared along with the woman and the rest of the body. Perhaps the killer took it because it was beautiful, but that's highly unlikely."
Jenkins nodded, then briefly explained how he had treated the flower. There was nothing particularly strange about it; he had simply given new life to a withered rose.
Captain Bincy had someone bring a new rose for Jenkins to revive, just as he had done that afternoon, and they brought it into the room to simulate the scene. A spiritualist from the Church of Death and End temporarily summoned Mr. Stan's spirit, but its consciousness was hazy, and it refused to cooperate or reveal the killer's appearance. Only when it saw the vibrant red rose did its tendency to descend into a malevolent spirit seem to slightly abate.