Malefic Society

15. The Heartless Murders

Wee Woo!

The sounds of police sirens blazing past in the distance could be heard from the street where the Wrights lived. People were curious and the street was busier and noisier than usual that afternoon.

"What's going on, Mrs. Camerino? Why have there been a lot of sirens since last night?"

Crane was out shopping for fresh meat at the butcher near his new house. It was a hot afternoon in Vieste, so he was only wearing a loose shirt and a pair of shorts, showing off his sunburned skin. As a Votary, he didn't feel a lot of pain from sunburn, so he thought that he might as well work on his tan.

"Oh, Mr. Wright. You're new here, so you must have not heard it. It's also on today's paper! Another murder! Oh, the horror!" the robust lady in her mid-fifties said dramatically as she was chopping the meat into pieces, "the Brownies must be really desperate now to catch the killer."

"Murder? Brownies?" Crane raised his eyebrow in confusion.

"Oh, silly me. We call them coppers Brownies because their coat is brown and they like eating brownies. Just don't let them catch you calling them that, now," she laughed and swatted the air meaningfully.

"Don't worry, Mrs. Camerino, I know how to behave," Crane smiled, "So what about those murders?"

"It's awful, really," she said with a falling intonation, "Vieste used to be safe. But nowadays, it's getting scary. If I was not old, I might even think of moving to another place. But then again, I hear the other cities are not any better..."

Mrs. Camerino put on a worried look on her face, but her right hand didn't stop chopping the meat she was handling.

"It's another one where the killer took the victim's heart. There have been 4 people killed like that, that's what's written on the paper anyway. But it's really horrible! I don't go out late at night anymore now. But a mother can only be scared. I always call my kids to be really careful. They live in Collodi, but I can't help but get worried about them,"

That's a lot of information to process, Mrs. Butcher... Crane lamented inwardly. And the way you cut that meat is scarier than the murder.

"You too, Mr. Wright, you need to keep little Felix safe. Such a young child should not be wandering alone, so keep him close to you at all times," Mrs. Camerino warned Crane with genuine worry.

"Thank you for your concern, Mrs. Camerino. Don't worry, I am always keeping him safe. Besides, my siblings are here too," Crane said assuringly and then said inwardly, more like Felix is keeping me safe...

"Ah, that's good to hear. By the way, just Greta is fine. We are now neighbors after all," Greta Camerino said with a friendly smile, accompanied by the sound of a cleaver hitting a chopping board.

It's like she's telling me she'll chop me off if I don't call her Greta...

"Sure. In that case, just call me Crane," he smiled, "Is my order... ready?"

"Yes, yes, don't worry, I was not distracted at all... I am special, you know? I can still work while doing something else, so just talking is nothing!" she smiled proudly, "here you go, some beef and sausages. Oh, and I put in a little extra for little Felix."

"Thank you, Greta! You really didn't have to," said Crane politely, but he was cheering inside.

Greta handed the meat wrapped in a special kind of paper to Crane and the latter smiled before leaving the butcher.

A murder... I hope it won't attract any attention to us. I really need to get our documents sorted out so we don't get in trouble with the authority.

...

"Bianchi, how's the investigation on your part going?" a man in his late thirties was sitting behind a desk with stacks of paper, almost burying him. He had a tired look on his face, and his eyes had apparent dark circles around them.

"Not good. Even with our Fortune Teller, we can't get any hints. Our guy is someone with anti-divination abilities..." a younger man with a similar tired look replied.

"Goddamit!" the man behind the desk was furious and tried to slam his desk, but quickly held back for fear of messing up all the paper, "And these goddamn papers are not going away at all!"

"Captain, calm down..." a woman with a concerned look said from a desk in the corner.

"I am calm, can't you see?!" replied the captain with veins protruding on his face.

The man sat back down and took a deep breath.

"The higher-ups are asking for closure to this case ASAP, the press is hovering around like vultures, and people are asking for the killer. If we don't catch the guy soon, our department might as well get shut down."

"If not for those damn mafias!" he held his hand in a fist, holding back the urge to slam something.

"Do you think it's possible that the mafia is behind this?" asked the man called Bianchi.

"I forgot you're new in this department," replied the captain, shaking his head.

The man called Bianchi had a confused look on his face and look around the spacious office room. Everyone was just minding their own business as if what he just suggested was something a child had just said.

"Listen here. Those old foxes are always at each others' throats. If one of them was behind this, the rest would have jumped the gun to bring the whole family down. Don't think of them as mere thugs gathering. They're smart, so they won't do anything to threaten their position in this city," the captain explained.

"If the mafia was behind this, let alone the body, we wouldn't have even heard of the crime happening," the woman in the corner added.

Bianchi nodded like a child who was just scolded.

"Mattia, any news from our informant?" the captain shot a glance at a quiet man sitting on the sofa.

The man put down the coffee he was drinking and shook his head, "Nope. The four big families had nothing on this killer either.

The office became quiet. Quickly, the sound of typing and the spinning of the ceiling fans took over the lead.

There were six people in that spacious office at that time, but there were more than ten desks. Everyone seemed to be in a gloomy mood, and the dim office was not much of a help either.

"Sigh... why does our office have to be in the basement..." the woman in the corner complained, "This lack of sunlight will get my skin all pale like a corpse,"

"Can't help that we're working in a secret department, so our office needs to be a secret too," a man with shoulder-length hair replied with a charming smile.

"We can build our office on the top floor and create just one entrance and exit. That would be 'secretive' too," replied the woman nonchalantly.

"Beats me," the man shrugged.

...

On a warm afternoon, in a wooden house where the furniture was minimalistic and the decor was non-existent, three identical-looking people were sitting around a wooden table, eating a homemade lunch that looked simple, but appetizing.

"Damn, it's much better than Midnight Rabbit meat. I can live like this forever," Chris Wright gulped down a sausage quickly.

"Have you guys heard about the murders as well?" Crane brought up a topic.

The siblings didn't reply right away. They continued enjoying the simple, yet delectable meal as the warm sun penetrated through the glass window behind them.

"Yes, I've read it in today's paper," Catherine replied. "It's the one where the victim's heart was taken, or there is something else I'm not aware of?"

"It's that one," Crane nodded.

"Everyone in town is basically talking about it," Chris added, "I used Stealth to eavesdrop--don't judge me--and most of the topics are about that."

"What do they say?"

"It's that there've been four victims so far and the police have not made any arrests. They haven't even announced any suspects."

"Do you think this will implicate us?" Catherine asked.

"Most definitely. They will want to increase the number of patrols and question suspicious individuals. Right now, as long as we don't all travel together, we shouldn't attract too much attention." Crane nodded and took a bite of fried bacon, "Did you hear about the victims so far?"

"Not really. Most people were just talking about the surface topic, like how scared they were and how horrible the murders were," Chris shrugged.

"It's mentioned in the paper that there were no commonalities among the victims, so it appears that everyone is equally in danger."

"Then we must also be careful. I heard that the murders happened mostly at night, so avoid going out alone at night," Crane warned, "We don't know what kind of world this is or if people possess abilities like us, so we need to lay low and learn for the time being.

"Okay, boss!" Chris gave a thumbs up.

"So, how's your preparation going?" asked Catherine.

Crane took a glance at the clock on the wall. It showed one in the afternoon. After that, he gulped down the meat that he had been chewing and took a deep breath.

The sound of metal utensils hitting porcelain plates filled the small but warm room, and the sounds of people bustling outside seemed to be knocking on the window asking to be let in.

"Sigh... I'll go shopping after this. It's a lot to prepare, and worse is that you guys can't really help me with this, so I have to do everything alone..." Crane said dejectedly.

"Well, sorry that we specialize in different things," Catherine smiled awkwardly.

"You guys do your things. Chris, how are things with our documents?"

"I'm still gathering info. It's not easy to find something like that in a city this big. At least, we're in the West End where they say the crime rate is higher, so the chances of finding a forger should be higher."

"We need to get our hands on identity cards soon. If the police question us without it, we'll be thrown in jail for sure in this situation. What about you, Cath? Are you able to feel any spiritual trace?"

"Not really. It appears that around this area at least, there is nothing supernatural," Catherine cut a piece of bacon in two, "that, or people are really good at hiding their spirituality... The latter means they're much stronger than us."

"Stay alert, but if you feel any spiritual presence, let us know and we can go investigate it together. It'll be safer that way," Crane nodded.

"By the way, do you guys want to know something interesting?" Chris said enthusiastically.

"What is it?" Crane was curious.

"Buy me chocolate first and I'll tell."

"If the information is good, I'll buy you chocolate when I go shopping later," Crane frowned.

"Deal!" Chris smiled widely.

After that, he just paused, and the siblings continued eating away. They were used to Chris's habit of creating suspense that way.

"So, there are organizations called 'Mafia' in this city!" Chris finally said, "You know, like the one described in the book,"

"Doesn't that mean this city is dangerous?" Catherine commented.

"Wait until I finish my story," Chris protested, "Apparently, the Mafias rule the city's underground, and there are several of them and they are keeping each other in check."

"Where did you hear that? It's not normal for some random people to be talking about the mafia in broad daylight," Crane asked.

"It's not a random citizen and it's not in broad daylight. They were hiding in a back alley and apparently, they were members of the smaller Mafia group."

"So what were they talking about?"

"They were just saying that the murders also caused trouble for them. Their higher-ups told those guys to go around and find clues," Chris excitedly replied, "They seemed to be just some low-level members, so they didn't say anything more substantial, but that means this city will be even more dangerous now."

"And you are excited because?" Catherine raised her eyebrows.

"Because if there are more Mafia in the street, I can get more important information if the important dudes happen to show up!" he smiled.

"True. Well, do your best to gather the information your way. I'll focus on opening the store as soon as possible so we can get a steady income," Crane replied.

"So you are acting as the chairman detective and we're your field agents, eh?" Chris joked.

"Think of it that way," Crane smiled.

The siblings continued eating their hearty lunch and went their separate ways once they were finished.