2024-09-29 12:18:43"Do you suspect any foul play from external parties?" I probed
"There are no signs of a break-in." Visnu shared. "The security at the guardroom commented the night was like any other. It was quiet and peaceful. They made two rounds patrolling the place at 1 am and 4 am but heard nothing. We estimated Claudia's time of demise to be around 5 am and they did not hear any unusual."
"They can be trusted?"
"Two of them are from Cisco Security. They have been through three hours of interrogation already." May added. "We have also checked their files. They are clean and one of them is over fifty. They do not have any reasons to murder Claudia."
"Where were they at the estimated time of murder?"
"They were right at the gantry. They did not hear anything loud or odd. There were no screams. There were some sounds in the bushes and they thought it was a cat. There is a usual cat in the neighborhood so they thought nothing much of it."
"I guess I will leave that part of the investigation to you."
Visnu nodded "Certainly."
I bit my lips. "Has she offended anyone?" I asked
"Our initial feedback from everyone is that she is on good terms with everyone.
"We cannot form a judgment based on a singular input. We need to talk to more people. I commented.
"We are not forming any conclusion," Visnu stated.
"Perhaps we should let you conduct your investigation and then we compare notes." May interrupted. "We need to keep things confidential and at this point, I am uncomfortable with sharing more." May asserted.
"I suspect, my next request to look at the CCTV will not go well."
May eyed Visnu and shook her head. "That's police evidence and you are not cleared…"
Visnu quickly said "Not yet but I will share at the right time. You have my assurance on that."
"Thank you, Visnu." I shrugged "I am ready when you are ready."
"Shall we focus on tonight? I had some men on standby in case."
"That will not be necessary. They and their weapons will have no value against the spirits."
"What are we looking for tonight," May asked.
"I will be performing a transition and trying to establish communication with the spirits in this property. It will be like an audit."
"What is going to happen?" She asked "
"I will need a space within the house and perform a ritual to communicate with the spirits. It is a trusted method that worked in the past. You remember don't you." I looked at Visnu
"Absolutely. I will leave you to do your stuff. Anything you would like us to do for you?
"Stand watch over me. Await my return"
"Honestly, three of us watch you meditate?" May grumbled.
"Inspector May can join me if she wants."
She put up her hands and waved in objection "Once is enough. It will kill me. Adam, no need to taunt me."
"I am not..."
Visnu chuckled "I remembered that last time you joined him, you vomited and…"
May flashed an intimidating look and Visnu quickly made peace
"My bad. Let's skip this."
He turned to me
" Is there anything else?"
I bit my lips and hesitated if I should make my request now.
Visnu said "What is it?" He knew me well
"Is there any chance I can visit the mortuary?"
There was an awkward silence and Visnu could not contain his surprise.
"You want to check on Claudia Goh?" May queried
"I might have guessed. How could Adam not think of it?" Visnu said, half laughing.
Visnu unleashed his I-know-you laughter.
"So is that a yes?"
Visnu smiled.
I saw Ah Hock waiting on the walkway to usher us in.
"Has Mr John Chua left?"
"Towkay had moved to another property nearby. He has another property in Sentosa. The loss of Claudia has hurt him."
"I am sure."
"Two years ago, Madam just passed away, and now."
"Your Madam? Mrs Chua?"
Ah Hock nodded "Less than two years and now another funeral."
"I felt really sorry for him. Your Towkay must be a mentally strong person."
"He is. My boss is a tough man. He runs so many businesses. However since Mrs Chua left, I seldom see him upset. He has grown calmer but what happenesed over the past two days, it must have been too much for him." Ah Hock lamented.
"Uncle Hock, did you hear anything unusual last night?" I asked.
Ah Hock fidgeted before answering.
"I was asleep. My room is on the other side of the kitchen. I really didnt hear anything."
"You only discovered your Towkay when you woke?"
"Yes, I always wake at about 6am."
Seeing the crumpled expression of anxiety on his face, I was inclined to believe him. Being the first person to be the crime scene, and witnessed to the wretched state of Claudia Goh, must be such a trauma for him.
"You have been working for the Chuas for a long time?"
"Since 1993. I used to be driving the taxi and then applied to be his chauffeur."
"What a long time."
"Yes, time flies. Thirty years already."
"You never thought of finding another job?"
"Mr Chua is a good boss. He treated me. Besides my salary, he also gave me good bonuses every year. He paid for my son's polytechnic education. I have no complaints here"
"You are one lucky employee," I remarked.
As we conversed, Ah Mui was furiously typing notes on her handphone.
"What do you want to do tonight?" Ah Hock asked
I decided to push ahead with my agenda. "I will take a look around. Can I visit the second floor?"
Hock looked at Visnu who then asked " If it helps. Please, please come with me."
Hock quickly brought us into the mansion, through the entrance, which led into the large living room
"This is where the family usually gathers after dinner. That's where they have their dinner." He pointed to the room to my left and there was a smaller living space with a long table with twelve chairs.
"The luxury of space," I murmured as I studied the decor of the room.
"This living room alone is the size of my HDB four-room flat," Visnu remarked "I may even have an additional balcony." he joked as he stroked his moustache.
"Lead the way, Uncle Hock" I said as he led us up the stairs which seemed newly retrofitted with fresh wooden paneled steps.
As I climbed the stairs, my heart beat with anticipation.
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The stairs brought me to a cozy living space and a long corridor with a series of doors. The first thing that greeted me was the pleasant scent of flowers. There was an L-shaped leather sofa, with a smallish coffee table in the middle, placed over a beige-colored carpet that looked ideal for a lie-down after a day's work.It was an underwhelming experience - plain and predictable.On the coffee table, there is a white vase of yellow Orchids. Several small oils on the walls lend an ambience of comfort and welcome. In the corner of the living space, by the stairs is a standing vase of variegated Chrysanthemums."This is where the family sleeps?""Yes, this is their private space. They do not like to be disturbed. Seldom, are strangers allowed here."Ah Hock explainedI closed my eyes and took a deep breath. The large living room. My inner voice spoke.Can I look at all the rooms?"Hock protested "No, no. Mr Chua will be angry. He does not like strangers wandering around the house." He l
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"I will need a pail of water," I said."Warm water?" Hock asked"No. Make it hot. I would like a pail of hot water." I said Everyone was bewildered "Hot? Do you mean it has to be boiling? You want to cook ah?" Ah Hock exclaimed.Ah Mui smiled and shook her head. "He needs hot water, please. It has to be a high temperature to allow him to perform his ritual.""Wah, I have never heard about this. Hot water." He repeated."Make it 80% hot, and 20% tap water." I repeated my request.Despite his disbelief, he moved along. A few minutes later, he returned, treading with caution. In his hands was a basin of hot water spewing spirals of steam. With the attentiveness of a cook, he placed the basin in front of the chair and added a few towels around it."You sure?""Yes I am sure."I took off my socks and sat down. Then I dipped on foot into the basin. "Yes, just right." Then I placed both feet in much to the consternation of a stunned Ah Hock."You feel ok?"I nodded."I had never heard ab
Adam the Spirit Master Chapter 13
Every transition is an intensive ritual that demands deep focus and complete control over our senses. Only well-trained Onmyojis can successfully conduct a transition in their investigation of supernatural crimes. It has taken many years of training for some and for me, it was, strangely, an easy craft to master. My teacher, Master Sato, observed this may be a result of my mother's background. She was also trained as an Onmyoji. Gradually, I planted my feet in the basin. The warmth travelled through the pores on my skin and breathed life into every cell of my body. I began meditating, chanting the Ksitigarbha Mantra, Om Hahaha Vismaye Svaha, which I regarded as the golden standard of mantras. It was something that soothed my heart, and drives away the cloud of dust in our minds and dispelled anxiety, anger and all dark vibes. As I meditated and focused my energy, trying to find the point of light in my consciousness, The process is pretty much like gliding in the air. The distur
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I took a deep inhale before moving on. Slowly, but steadily, I ascended the stairs and soon found myself in the living space. The yellow Orchids were still there but this time it has faded to a lower tone of white. There seemed to be an assortment of sounds coming from the rooms down the corridor. I tightened my grip on my brush and paced down the corridor like a panther. I pushed open the first door, it had a bed and dressing table. The walls had a coat of pink with a nice desk. There was a working desk placed adjacent to the the window, and I saw some photo frames. I stepped closer and found them to be pictures of Mavis with her parents. There was also a picture of her in her graduation gown. This must be Mavis’s room. Suddenly a thump from my back snatched my attention. I swung around and heard something from the other room. The corridor had taken on a pale light. Something is not right.“Who is it?” I demanded but was only greeted by an eerie silence. I tightened my grip on
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Granny Gui shook her head “I tried to investigate but to no avail." She rubbed her temples "There are days when I saw traces of a spirit but all the searches yielded no answer.”“Is this the first time you encountered such a spirit?"Gui nodded frantically as her eyes scanned the space behind me. She was afraid the door would open suddenly. “This is. Indeed it is."She swallowed and then stammered, "I had a couple but the last few has been extremely stressful and ...""And what?""Violent." She said silently as the wrinkles on her lips looked more pronounced"All unpleasant ones. I am unable to understand the reckless anger. I do not even know where the spirit came from. It is too powerful, I am just..I had to take refuge here.”I inhaled. “Granny Gui, what did you see? Can you tell me about the form or characteristics?"“You have not seen it, have you?” She lowered her head “Sometimes you do not need to see fear. You only need to feel it. I took so long to sense it. Useless me.” “I
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I felt the force descending and quickly brought up hands to execute the Kuji-in or Nine Hands Seal which served as our spiritual weapon against dark and unseen spirits. “ 临兵斗者皆阵列前行“Instantly a shield of illumination formed in front of me. With a swerve, I leaped forward and gave the force an outward thrust. The marauding force was now a dark mass that knocked on my shield like a reckless bull. With each pound, I felt pressure on my hands. I am dealing with a reckless force. In the midst, I dropped my Buki Brush. As I had to maintain the shield, I was physically unable to reach for my principal weapon.I clasped my hands together, my right fingers over the left, and combined my pointer fingers to form a sword-like pose, then commanded. “Forces of the four directions, at my command! 四方奇兵，为我所用“It was a war command to focus my energy but the knocks on my shield continued before I brought on the full strength of my powers. Each knock on my shield came with a deep groan that grew in
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My eyebrows raised in sharp inquisition."No wonder you are in Singapore."Kelly flashed an evil smile. I understood her too well.“I needed your tool.”“Which one?”She bent over and helped me to my feet."Which one?" I repeated“I had an assignment in Singapore. There is spirit on the loose and had created some havoc.”“Let’s talk later then," I said.“ Thank you." "I hadn't agreed." I said, "I have this assignment.""What’s this transition about?” “I suspect there is a source of grievance. I think my hunch is right.""That will mean..." Kelly was cut off in mid-sentence.“Look, people! I am sorry to disrupt your disciple lovey-dovey catch-up chat, but can I know what happened?” It was May and her face was strained. Whenever she is stressed, I am irritated.“I am sorry…” I said, "Our conversation is part of my investigation."“Then please share with us.” She demanded.Ah Mui had brought over a huge cup of warm water. I had been drained and felt dehydrated, so I grabbed the drink.
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I turned around and found myself looking at the voice's owner, walking down the corridor towards us with a confident sashay. She is tall and walked with confidence. Her long and wavy hair projected an air of easy confidence. Closer up, she had a beautiful oval face with an impeccable complexion that seemed to have just received some sunshine. I am luckily half a head taller, still.Despite the displeasure on her face, she was pleasing to the eye. One is compelled to be civil in front of the lady. “May I know what is going on?” she demanded as she stood looking at us all.“Hi Mavis.” Uncle Hock called out dropped his mop and walked over "Good to see you back home."“Uncle Hock, what is happening here? It is such a mess. Who are these people?”She gesticulated and looked around “Where is Daddy?”“Your daddy has gone to the condominium at Sentosa. He is not feeling well.”“Still upset about Claudia’s passing?” Mavis saidThen she turned in my direction and looked at us. “Who are these
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Every nerve in my body was charged as I hopped onto Visnu’s car. I was eager to talk to Aminah again. I owe her an apology after my rash act. More importantly, she is key to unlocking information that may help the investigation. The journey to the hospital was swift with Visnu behind the wheel. Kelly sat at the back, anticipation written on her radiant face. She has that dauntless vibes that infects you and gives you that boost. Her strength and independent streak can be attributed to her upbringing and training. At the hospital, we found Aminah warded in a single ward on the twelfth floor. It was a thoughtful arrangement knowing the trauma Aminah has experienced. There was a policeman stationed outside the ward to assist, and he swiftly snapped to attention upon seeing Visnu.As we were about to enter, Visnu held onto the doorknob, looked at me and asked.“How do you want to do this?”I sensed his reservation and immediately understood his concerns."I promised I will be careful i
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“You promise.” Visnu’s stern look made me uncomfortable and I repeated my promise“Thanks, Adam. We know you are working hard to uncover the truth.”"Let me share my findings?” I said looking down at the pad in front of me. “My transition last night yielded two key findings. Let’s talk about Mavis Chua. I had planned to start with her because I needed a family member to assess the predisposition of the spirit. It was a correct decision as the spirit did not attack her.”“Only you?" May askedI nodded “I suspected the spirit could be a member of the family who is long deceased.""This is sounding ridiculous," May remarked as she eyeballed Visnu. I bit my lips."Who are you suspecting?" Visnu asked"The most likely one would be the deceased Mrs Chua," I replied"The mother?” May added, skeptical and continued “Mother? You suspect the mother is unhappy with Claudia and came back to attack her?”Visnu asked. “Looked there may be some animosity or can you provide some causes for that nas
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We never found a satisfactory answer. The best way to find out is to visit the columbarium. Though it was past midnight, every cell in my body called for action. However, I knew that was not possible.After we wrapped up our discussion, I headed to the showers. There was a certain humidity from the action and I felt sticky on my back and arms. As I stood under the showers, thoughts of the mansion flowed into my mind. I worked out the possible scenarios when there is an attack by a supernatural entity. A resident spirit in the residence or neighbourhood? Or it could be a spirit sent by a family that was unfriendly to the Chuas? Could there be another spirit that is deeply unhappy with the Chuas?As I turned off the tap, the steam from the hot water bath cleared but my mind remained cluttered. After I dried myself, and walked out to the corridor, I was treated to a symphony of whistles and snorts. Kelly has fallen asleep. She told me she had a hard day. What had she been up to in the
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I rubbed my forehead as I recollected “She mentioned a scratching sound that could be heard from time to time but she can't see the creator of the sound. There is an eerie feel to it.“It could be anything - the sharp fingers of a woman spirit or toe nails of a limping man spirit.”“You have seen it all ya?" I said"Is that a praise." Kelly retorted and then giggled"In this case, I am not sure. I wished I can be sure.”“Maybe Aminah already knew.”“This is how I would construct the timeline of events. Aminah heard some noises in the living room, she checked but may have missed out on seeing something in that house. She thought it was a cat and in the dark of the night but she did not check further.”“Nobody would be walking around in that huge mansion at 3am.”“Probably. Now, let me continue. After finding nothing, she went back to sleep. John Chua mentioned Claudia woke up in the middle of the night, likely after Aminah returned to her room. She did not check on the source of the so
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I switched on my laptop which is connected to the mounted wide screen and began to scribble“I had another transition.”“So soon?” Kelly eyes widened like bulbs of burning light. “You must be exhausted. Remember Master Sato advised us never to conduct more than 2 transitions in 7 days. You will hurt your 元气 Yuan Qi.”“I will take rest tomorrow to construct my logic.”“Please. I don’t want to watch you broken. Don’t die before me”“We will both scale Mount Fuji again.”“Deal!” Kelly unleashed her naughty giggles.“Now flood me with your facts”“In our second transition, I encountered the same spirit again.”“The same spirit. That makes the investigation interesting. Probably a restless soul that is causing disturbances”“ Tt is stronger.”“You were beaten again?” Kelly asked“ I had a better chance this time but a strange thing happened. The dark spirit has attempted to engage me.”“Engage?”“Communicate.""What's the message?""I am trying to figure out.""Was it that tough?""It did
Chapter 41
“What else did you see?” Mavis asked, her eyes widened with curiosity. “I saw a girl. Perhaps you? The girl was running around the swimming pool and playing a game of catching with a lady.”“My mum?“I nodded"She called you 小宝宝 - the little dear one."”Mavis shook her head, looking lost. “You looked confused.”She smiled nervously “My mum never called me that. Or at least my memory does not register such a term.”“She did not?”“My mother does not call me that. I do not remember she ever does.” She winced “She calls me Ah Girl or Sayang which is Malay for darling.”I felt my senses were stroked. I pressed on with my questions.“My gut feeling was that I was back to a time set at least twenty years ago? The Chua Mansion of the year 2000? Mavis, can you remember what happened in those days?”“Year 2000? I have no idea. I am probably five years ago. Too young to remember but I can ask my father.”“I am silly. You are too young." I shook my head "Dont ask him now. He is exhausted from
Chapter 40
When we were alone, Mavis brought me over to a lighted path that meandered through the lawn. “Things have moved so fast that I barely had a moment with you." I said“The transition Yes, I feel we should talk.”“Where would you like to start?”“I want to tell you about what I saw when I was in the transition?”“That’s another dimension? It is just like a dream like I told you earlier.”“If this was your first time, yes. However, spirit masters, who usually operate between different dimensions in our investigation work, have a clearer grasp of things. Training and continual meditation gave us a sense of clarity; that realm is like another world. A real world in which we remember the details. In these dimensions, the spirits can communicate with us as we communicate between humans in this realm.”“I guess that’s only possible with a spirit master like you.”“Onmyoji at your service.” I gave a slight bow.Mavis giggled. “This is the first time I have met a spirit master and seen your pow
Chapter 39
Just when I tried to say something sweet to break the tension, Marcus stood up and walked out of the room. There was a silence when nobody knew what to do until John Chua spoke faintly “Marcus…” There was a look of resignation on his face. Mavis walked up and placed a hand on John's shoulder. “Let us calm down for a while, Dad. Kor is just being reactive." “We will talk again when Marcus is fine.” John turned to both of us "When everyone is fine."He then turned to me with a stern look. “Dr Adam this is my family affairs. A tiny storm in the teacup. I am sorry you had to be a spectacle to all these. Now can we get back to the investigation.""I am not bothered. " I assured"What additional help do you need from us?”“Aminah is now warded. We would like to know more about her relationship with Claudia. Can you share any details?”John Chua bit his lips“You know nobody is perfect and the same for Aminah. She works very hard and I like her attentiveness but when Claudia moved in wi
Chapter 38
“Honestly, I cannot recall.”Mavis said in a frustrated tone with tresses of her hair dropping over her forehead. She swept it back in one stroke.“Mavis, that's fine. We all suffered from these memory lapses after each transition. It is normal. Do not strain yourself. You may recollect at random. Maybe tomorrow or the day after.”“I will try, Adam. I will let you know when those details come back to me."“Dr Adam. Hello everyone.” Ah Mui said, crashing in on our dialogue. "Need your kind attention."“Yes Ah Mui? What is it?"“I just want to share some information. As I was tidying up the place after our rituals, I discovered that all the red string had caught fire and burnt until they were ashes”.I bit my lips and walked out of the room to the living room. I studied the remains of the red string which now looked charred black like someone had lit them with a lighter.My serious look elicited a question from Mavis “What does that mean?” “It meant that spirit’s powers were strong eno
