Interlude 2 - Crime Scene

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***

- I think you're familiar with the basic information? - I asked Rorschach, who had closed his laptop.

- Yes, I've learnt exactly who we can build connections with and in what ways," he replied calmly, tucking the laptop into the bag I gave him.

Since he couldn't be considered an official member, his superiors had rented him a flat somewhere in Metropolis. And that's where he'd have to live. He'll work with us occasionally and pass reports through the Assassin.

- Some people can't be fixed no matter how hard you try, Uther complained, looking at Rorschach as he walked away.

- Well, we should be on our way. You understand what this case is about, don't you? - I asked the paladin, who had put on his armour. Although according to him, this armour looked less majestic and too thin, but it was still too massive. The hammer behind his back didn't inspire much peacefulness either.

- Some sinner is trying to summon a demon in this city. And we need to catch him and see if the ritual worked or not," Uther said calmly, interpreting the mission in his own way. That's fine, it's for the best.

- Then let's go, we'll have a lot to do today," I said, leading the old man behind me.

We left the building and came to the car park, where the car we needed was already parked, and a girl waiting for someone. It was Ikusaba, who Miss S had also sent with us, saying that her help would come in handy in case of emergency. The girl herself was dressed in a rather closed suit, and even her face was covered by a helmet with darkened glass. And the whole picture was only supplemented by a tricked-out automatic weapon in her hands. If I hadn't seen her in that suit before, I wouldn't have recognised her.

- Hi, Mukuro," I said, and got a brief nod in return. Uther said hello to her with the same nod, which she responded to. Maybe because of their warrior nature, they understand each other more easily? Well, maybe so.

We quietly got into the car, which was quite roomy, apparently because of Uther. The whole journey to the scene of the last murder was in a lingering silence. I don't know about the others, but for me it was just that. It's a long way to the next town.

But when we got there, things got a little more interesting.- Greetings, Neo, Argent Squad," I introduced myself, stepping out of the car and walking straight toward the FBI agents.

- Agent Rhodes, welcome. We've been waiting for you for quite some time, and we appreciate your help on this case. Our superiors promised us the right specialists, but we certainly didn't expect you to arrive," the FBI agent said rather seriously as he led me to my seat.

- According to my information, the last murder happened six days ago, so I'm interested in the integrity of the crime scene," I told him, moving with everyone else to the location we needed.

- Everything but the corpse is in place. Our people did everything as carefully as possible, so as not to leave any unnecessary traces," he answered me, bringing us to the place. And to be honest, it doesn't look like much. An old, abandoned building looked bad enough, but this room. It had a badly beaten floor, covered with dried blood, and a strange pentagram made of the same dried blood. And despite the fact that it was obviously painted with blood, it looks as if it was created with a very good paint, which will not come off the walls in a couple of decades.

And that's another oddity that almost confirms my hunch about a real mage and demon worshipper.

- What a disgusting place! - Uther said sullenly, walking over to the seal and touching it.

- What do you mean? - I asked him.

- This... thing reeks of some sort of demonic foulness, but not the one I remember. I can tell you for sure, though, that there was a sectarian here who tried to summon a demonic creature," he said, looking at the wall grimly.

- Demons? - said the FBI agent, perplexed.

- That's not information you're supposed to know. So for your own good, I suggest you forget it. You can consider it just an unusual metahuman," I told him, frowning at him.

- Accepted," he replied, stepping back a little. There was still some fear of the pentagram in his gaze, though.

- We must destroy it! - Uther said.

- What? But it's evidence we need. We can't just get rid of it," I told him.

- We're not sure how close its creator is to summoning this creature, so it's our duty to destroy it. Otherwise, the ritual could end now, and we'd find out after the deaths of the innocents," he told me.

- Hmm, that makes sense. Okay, that's what we'll do with this seal, but before we do it, we need to draw it and then compare it with all the others," I said, remembering that I hadn't been given an illustration of the last pentagram.

- Our artist has already redrawn it, so don't worry," said the FBI agent, who didn't particularly mind destroying the seal. And that's pretty strange coming from a man in his profession. Though I wouldn't be surprised if he's more afraid than I thought.

- Then get to it," I said a little helplessly, realising that there was no way I could stop the paladin from doing this. He had already made up his mind and was definitely getting rid of that seal. In any case, it's not too bad, especially if it's actually like Uther said.

After my words, the one put his hand on that seal and frowned slightly as if sensing something bad. A second later, I was a little blinded. When I blinked, I saw a clean wall, without any burns or anything like that.

- The light hasn't left me, even after all the mistakes I've made," Uther whispered, but I could hear him because I was close enough. Light, huh? Well, for a paladin it's obvious. I even wondered what kind of mistakes he was talking about, but it would be rude to intrude on someone else's personal space like that.

- Okay, now it would be a good idea to examine the place where the victim was attacked before bringing him here," I said, looking at the agent. He just looked at Uther strangely and nodded.

- There's almost nothing unusual about that place, except for a couple of details. You could say that such places are ideal for any assassins and kidnappers, even those without special powers," the agent said as he led us to the car. Mukuro was silent the whole way and didn't want to do anything. You could say that she's only here as a guard in case of a fight. It's not that we need guards, but it's not like we don't need another fighting unit.

When we got into the car, Rhodes turned to me again, handing me a folder.

- It's an updated file on the last murder. The pathologist's reports and the pentagram sketch," he said calmly. I nodded slightly and picked up the folder. Now you can look at the pentagram in detail, and compare it with past ones, as well as information from the Internet.

And the pentagram itself looked similar to the others, but with some changed and added symbols. In general, it would be more correct to call it all Pentacles, but for me it is somehow unfamiliar.

And to be honest, these symbols from afar resemble Arabic, just an ancient dialect, but in essence have nothing in common with it. Unfortunately, my knowledge of this language is lacking, although it is very useful.In any case, it will be necessary to look for some local specialist, as Uther said. But if the boss doesn't know them, I won't have to go to gypsy fortune-tellers and find out which of them can really work magic.

But suddenly Agent Rhodes's phone rang, which I didn't pay much attention to at first. But after I noticed the look on his face, as well as the slight frown on Uther's face, whose hearing was better than mine and who might well have heard the phone conversation, I began to suspect something was wrong.

- Quickly turn around, there is a new murder and there are still living witnesses, - the agent said to the driver, and then quickly dictated the address. Our car somehow accelerated sharply, and we were almost instantly there.

And as soon as we arrived, Uther almost kicked the car door flying out of it.

- We need help for these people. They're on the verge of death," he muttered, as he walked.

We immediately hurried after him, and when we reached the spot, I saw Uther bent sadly over the corpse of a man who had also been sacrificed. There were two men in bloody police uniforms, but they were alive, judging by their breathing.

- I couldn't make it," Uther said with a sigh as he stood up. You could see on his face that he was sorry, but it was as if he was somehow used to it. Apparently he's not one to be surprised by deaths.

- What happened to them? - I asked Uther, not believing that the killer had left the living witnesses so easily.

- They were being eaten away from the inside by the foulness, but the light brought healing. If it hadn't been for my help, they would be dead, and dying painfully. They were attacked by an incredibly vicious man... but was he? - Uther wondered at the end.

Had he? The killer all this time might not have been human. That would have to be considered, but later. For now, the wounded must be tended to, and the fresh murder scene examined.

***

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