After they had gathered around, lowered their heads and muttered a few words of condolence, the boy in the white cloak kneeled down again before the dead body and searched it, investigating for clues that might help them for their next chase.
"Same as the others?" a girl who enveloped herself in a purple cloak inquired as the boy in the white cloak lifted the dead man's chin.
"All I can say is that this is definitely not the work of the vampires or werewolves cos there's no bite marks…just like the others." the boy in the white cloak replied in a disappointed tone. "It would be much easier if they were the reason for these deaths."
"It can be one of the Witches or Warlocks, right?"
"I wouldn't say 'no' for sure, since they have stepped up their game these days. And I only began my research on them not long ago... but I must say, from all the cases I've studied, I've never seen one who could kill in such a discreet manner. No burnt marks, no signs of being strangled or cursed...not even a cut to be found!?"
"What's wrong with that?"
"Witches and Warlocks...are usually impulsive and mindless when it comes to killing. Careful planning and intentional covering aren't their style. But there might be exceptional cases. I'm not sure."
"Right...we might need to consult an expert on this matter." the girl in the purple cloak notified the people standing behind her.
"How about the daemons?" someone proposed. "Demonology is your expertise, right, Agent 616?"
The boy in the white cloak nodded his head in response. "But if it's one of the daemons' work, it wouldn't have left without marking this body. A 'sting' mark should be found somewhere around here…" He fingered at the neck area. "And this could have turned into a Forsaken already but… " His voice died down suddenly and his pupils enlarged. Something that looked familiar to an item he'd read in the books the other day caught his eye. "Goodness gracious…" he sounded and leaned forward to take a closer look of his discovery.
After scanning the dead man's chest with the soft blue light projected from his upturned palm once more, he said, half to himself, "Why haven't I thought of that before? His soul..."
"What's the matter with his soul?"
The boy in the white cloak looked up at his inquirer and answered with a little thrill in his voice, "It didn't just leave the body because this person's time was up, you know, like...naturally! It must have been taken out by force!"
"So you think another Reaper has gone rogue?"
"I'm not sure. Grim Reaper did update us recently about his ...you know, 'mental health status'..." the boy in the white cloak gestured. "...right?"
That being said, the girl in the purple cloak nodded. "But he didn't mention anything alarming... do you think…he's not telling us everything?"
In response, the boy in the white cloak sighed, moving his head from side to side. "I wish he is, so, at least, we know what are we up against but no…I'm afraid he is telling the truth. I've checked the statistics recently and there's neither a rise in the Reapers population or any dark spots on the radar…So, with that being confirmed, it's very unlikely, this is a Reaper-going-rogue that kind of case…" he surmised and rubbed his chin, thoughtfully. "But this must be a mistake cos this shows that this-no, wait..." He paused when an idea tapped him on the shoulder. "If he didn't mention anything special about his status, did he mention anything relating to his lost properties?"
The girl in the purple cloak jerked a thumb towards one of the persons behind her. "As for that, you will have to ask Agent 106 here."
The spotlight suddenly switched its entire focus on the person who wore an emerald cloak but he didn't seem to register that. He had been paying most of his attention to the car racing game on his cell phone.
"Hey! They are all waiting for your answer!" Someone gave him a sharp nudge in the ribs to knock him out of the game.
"What?" The person in the emerald cloak looked up from his phone. "Oh! You were asking?"
Someone next to him clapped her hand on her forehead. "They are asking about Grim Reaper...whether he told you anything about his lost properties! Stop playing that stupid game and concentrate! We are on a serious mission right now!" she rebuked with an annoyed tone.
"Okay, okay! Let me think for a second!" the person in the emerald cloak grumbled, putting away his phone. "Ummm...Grim might have mention a thing or two when I met him the other day…"
"And what's that?" The rest of the group looked at him expectantly.
"His... ring...I think." the person in the emerald cloak uttered softly in an uncertain tone. "He said he has sensed its presence since…um… five years ago but it was faint and he was not sure. It was until recently...when… what was that again? Oh! When something seemed to have discharmed the cloak on it for a brief second that he could finally be certain that it was his ring… And what else? Oh! That's right!" He cleared his throat and then raised his voice, imitating someone's elegant style of speaking, " I am quite astonished that that ring has not been destroyed or discarded by the trepidation and stupidity of humanity! That's what he said to me before we parted. That's all I remember. "
"A ring? Grim Reaper has a ring?" the girl in the purple cloak intoned, puzzled as well as for most people at the scene. "Why didn't you mention it to us earlier? This is definitely news to us!"
"Not to me." the boy in the white cloak noted, abruptly. "Now that you have mentioned it, I think I might have read about it from one of the ancient scrolls retrieved from those Ancient Fae Kingdoms last week." he recalled. "They referred it as the Reaper's ring... literally. I've checked the records in the Armory but this ring was never been mentioned, probably went missing and was lost after the 800s. " After saying that, he lifted the dead man's chin again and gestured at a point. "But this must be it. This... this here is the proof of this being the work of that ring!" he said it, enthusiastically. " Or else, how can you explain this? There's no other explanation as to why this appears if no Reapers have gone mad. I bet the other victims have this too but in less apparent places. That's why we never took notice of it."
As soon as this was said, everyone else at the scene craned their necks and pitched forward curiously, attempting to figure out what the boy had discovered underneath the lifeless man's jawline.
"Isn't that a 'sting' mark?"
"No, it's something different. Trust me. No 'sting' mark looks like that." the boy assured.