Prologue

years I have been serving as a detective in Emric City and many things I have seen. I am Isaac Trest and this is how everything I ever knew was proved wrong.

"Trest I have a case for you" said our precinct's captain, his name is Argus Farghen and he is just as bad ass as his name although his rank is 03 a captain and he usually gawks at us 01 and gives us grunt work but today was different.

"Second Lieutenant Trest reporting for duty sir!" I said as I saluted upon his arrival

"I want you to go block A6 as there is a certain murder there" he commanded

"but sir isn't that the boundary of district 7? Do we have jurisdiction?"

I asked as I was confused. This city is divided in to 12 disrticts and each having their own precincts and there's been a territorial battle between cases for in this city power is everything and the more cases you handle the more likely you'll raise rank.

"Is getting coffee the only thing your good for? Enough questions and go"

He again commanded having slight irritation in his tone.

As I saw it would have been useless to continue I just went ahead and as I went there the Church was what got my attention as it was extremely chaotic having a crowd go over it and there was definitely something going on so I decided to enter and as I did I was surprised by a dead body Well one hidden under a sheet and a priest approached me

"Would you happen to be the police?"

He spoke in such a calm manner but you can still feel the shivering in his voice and how uneasy he feels.

"Yes I am Second Lieutenant Trest and there seems to be a murder case here I'll call the autopsy team right away"

I said as I performed primary autopsy,

The body was a girl who's named Sally Minch she was killed in one of the rooms near the church and it seems that she died of strangulation and was found early in the morning by the mother and panicking she called the priest I met earlier named Garret Salve who was once a medical student and as he tried to perform cpr he realised she has been dead for long and there was no saving her well that's what witnesses say atleast.

Upon diagnosing the body her time of death was probably 7 hours ago meaning somewhere along 1 am to 2 am and the murder weapon was nowhere to be found but basing from the mark it had to be some type of wire a few centimeters thick.

As the autopsy team arrived I decided to talk to the mother and next Salve.

"She was a good person Sally and she had a bright future ahead of her too it's too sad how my lord would take her away so soon" said Salve which then I replied

"It was not your God that took her away but a killer on the loose now help me find whoever he is"

"I'm afraid I cannot help you with that officer for this neighbourhood is very kind and I know no one capable of doing something so gruesome"

"Tell me who about the confessions you've had if anyone has been thinking about it and tell me about Sally who I heard from her mother was often here" I demanded

"Ah Sally, well her family often comes here to hear my sermons and sometimes Sally would come to help with keeping this church like cleaning and watching over the kids here when I'm gone and I'm sorry officer but the confidentiality of those who confess here are kept by my oath to the Sacrament of Reconciliation"

After that I pushed further for more information but no one suspicious was ever mentioned by him but the mother told me about a former lover of her who used to be part of the mafia "Strutionum" which was bad enough but after a certain event that happened he became very violent, the mother seemed to be afraid of telling the event so I had not pressed further for I already have a suspect and all I need is evidence so I went to the scene of the crime which was the victim's room and there was nothing particularly suspicious, the bed showed no signs of a struggle so meaning the victim stayed asleep during the whole crime which might be the reason of the peaceful look in her face.

It creeped me so much how she looked which was as if she was merely asleep but she wasn't and something had to be wrong. Why was there no struggle? Why is the whole crime scene normal? How can the suspect leave no evidence? Whoever this crime was very clever having left no evidence but an open window and with that I decided to go home and get my thoughts straight.

The murder weapon was found the next day and I had a clear idea of the occurrence. The forensics team cleared some questions I had like why she was so deep in sleep for it seemed she was drugged with heavy sleeping medications by the suspect and the murder weapon was a binder of a notebook, her diary and the flow of the events were as such.

First the suspect drugged the victim before she went to sleep and at the middle of the night entered her room took out the string that kept her diary together strangled her sublty enough that her bed would not be moved but accurately enough that it would deal a deadly blow and then put back the string and exit. All without even a speck of evidence being left except the  remainants of skin left in the string.

I went to the nearby pharmacist to ask if anyone bought heavy sleeping pills and with that I found my  possible suspect. Her ex boyfriend Terry Wilson which was a mafia goon with tendencies to be violent and was filled a restraining order by the victim. He was suspicious as they come as I interrogated him having no alibi and seldom speaking but adequate enough that I can't hold it against him yes he was surely clever and another piece of evidence and I can lock him up but I had nothing left to ask him so I had to let him go

I went back to the church to have another look, there I saw the victim's mother crying and Father Salve comforting her and there I saw something that would end the case but I needed to check something first so I went to priest and asked him if he was taking any medication and he answered me that he was taking a sleeping pill and there I might have seen the truth. I then asked to talk to him in private and he brought me to his room

"Padre I have found the murderer"

I said and he was surprised and seemed happy

"I am glad that the one who did this could be found so he can repent on his sin"

I was pissed of how calm and relieved he looked

" Enough Salve I know it was you!"

I accused

"Officer I do not understand I swear I would never hurt that girl I have treated her like my own child"

The way he spoke was so confused and sad but it sounded very genuine, this guy has to be telling the truth or must be one of the greatest liars in the world

"Alright let me tell you about the case then Padre, first the murder happened which was thoroughly planned exchanging the pills knowing the location of the murder weapon and setting everything up perfectly. It all had to be done by someone who knows the neighborhood and the victim and at first I thought it was her ex boyfriend Terry but it couldn't have been him because of hindrances like how he could never have switched the medications Sally was having with a sleeping pill or having known the perfect opportunity to strike but what really tipped me off was his hands it wasn't marked in anyway even after having strangled a girl enough that the skin of her neck touched the bone but yours did"

And as he looked at his hand he was shocked as if he did not know and he was silent

"I believed you Padre and I thought you were innocent because of how caring you seemed but you used that against us, You used the trust that little girl had to you and killed her with it and you even practiced it many times didn't you? That's why it's too scarred, you tried to strangle that girl many times without her knowing now what I don't understand is your motive, why would you kill her? "

His face was filled with guilt and his eyes was showing defeat he was shaking and opened his mouth and mumbled words couldn't hear and when I came closer he pushed me and closed the door.

As I opened it I saw him holding a knife pointing it at the mother and speaking words I couldn't understand and because of instinct I shot him and many has witnessed it seeing as his screams was heard through the whole block.

Upon his last remaining breath he looked at me, no longer with the crazed eyes but a tearful one and his expression was like that of a father who had just lost his child.

"I'm sorry officer..... and..... thank.... you" "

The case of Sally Minch's murder was then resolved but it sure didn't feel well, the way the priest acted was practically a confession and with the evidence stacked up he was without a doubt the suspect but even through all that I couldn't find a motive, all the background search I had on him showed how clean his life has been.

How does a priest with no known issues, one trusted deeply by the community, a person everyone asked regarded as a kind man become a cold killer able to murder a helpless girl for no apparent reason?

As I finished the case a woman approached me

"Your Mr. Isaac I suppose? The one who handled the case at block A6?"

"Yes that would be me, who are you?"

"I am Garret Salve's Therapist and I wanted to tell you something"

"Is that I'll go to hell for shooting him?"

"No, no you did everything he wanted you to"

"What do you mean?"

"What do you think Salve is?"

"a murderer who at his last moments would want to continue to kill, he has no remorse or sadness and cared for no one but himself"

Upon hearing my answer she looked to the ground trying to hold back her tears.

"The words Garret was an incantation....to... the... devil"

Stuttering the woman tried to compose herself and the looked at me.

"Why do you think he would do that officer?"

"Because he never was a man of faith to begin with"

Hearing my response she closed our distance and looked at me.

"No officer it was because he wanted to save the people of A6! "

My day just keeps getting worse. Here arrives a therapist unable to control her emotions but fine I'll listen to what she has to say.

I kept silent.

"Garret was diagnosed with multi personsonality disorder meaning during the murder he was not in control but when he realized that he also realized that people who find out he is a murderer will blame the church so he threw away his chance to salvation to save others by invoking the name of the devil and making everyone lose trust in him"

"What are you trying to say?"

I was confused as I was convinced he was just a killer, messed up bastards who felt thrill from their victim's sufferings but damn Salve, why is it so hard to hate you and not feel remorse for what I did to you?!

"Garret was a good man till the very end and he always cared genuinely for the people. He See Christians believe that death is not the end and the ultimate salvation was to enter God's kingdom and even Sally could be saved and Garret fearing that people would turn down his God threw away his chance to be saved in exchange for people having trust in the church. Did Garret deserve to be pushed away by his people and forsaken by his God officer? "

" He is a murderer he deserved all that happens to him"

I didn't mean that but I just can't handle the fact that I shot this man who the more I understand the more I pitty. If only he had took proper medication, if someone else took this case would it have been better?

"He was a victim! He had a purer heart than anyone and I can't stand the fact that he is being treated like scum. He was offered to be Bishop once and he refused saying his heart belonged to his home and he will only serve his home, do you realise that? In a city all about rank he chose to be powerless"

"I don't know what to say, I did my job and you can't blame me for that can you?"

"No, but I atleast wanted someone to know that Garret Salve was a kind man and did not deserve what's happened he just happened to be a victim of 'that tragedy'"

Well your message has been sent... I will forever repent on the murder of this priest who his only mistake was to get born.

She said that as she ran away and days later I found out she committed suicide and in her suicide note she apologised to Garret and that it was her inability to do her job that caused all that happened.

I then researched about the tragedy she was talking about but it was hidden by the high powers of Emric City but what I was able to find out is that it was that event that caused Padre to have Multi personality disorder because of panic and the reason why Sally filled the Restraining order and a whole chain of events to happen. But what exactly happened?