Nighttime had begun to engulf the little town.
Officers Patton and Santos, who had been chased out by Luke Prescott, were sitting in their patrol car, parked by the roadside next to Prescott's villa. Since they couldn't stay inside the villa, they had to remain in their car. Furthermore, Chief Louise had been adamant that they had to stay and guard Prescott.
"The Chief must be out of her mind. We had no reason to barge in and take him, and now we've been kicked out and can only watch that bastard from the roadside," Officer Santos began to complain. Nightfall was slowly creeping in, and despite his summer short-sleeved police uniform, he was feeling a tad chilly.
"Better not to say that when we get back to the station. Chief Louise is on duty tonight," Officer Patton sighed. "I've run out of complaints myself. She'd rather believe a charlatan than our judgment. Does he look like he's dying? Look at him, he's probably one J-girl away from a great time."
Officer Santos, in the passenger seat, shook his head impatiently, glanced at the villa, then at the outside lights and said, "There's a store nearby, do you want me to go get some hot milk tea?" He wanted to get some fresh air. They had been sitting there for several hours.
"Just get me an iced cola. I prefer that stuff Jason drinks, it keeps me awake better than coffee," Officer Patton replied.
Santos got out of the car and left, muttering complaints as he walked. When he reached the store, he ordered an iced cola and a hot milk tea for himself and began his journey back.
As he walked, a sudden gust of wind blew past. He felt a chill run down his spine and quickened his pace toward the car. Upon reaching the car, he opened the door and said, "Hey, Deputy Chief, did you feel that?"
"Feel what?" Patton, who had been gazing at the villa, asked, "Did you pee your pants? Damn it, you spilled your hot tea on my pants."
"Oh, sorry. I apologize. What I meant was, why has it suddenly turned chilly? On my way back, I felt a cold wind. Looks like the weather is turning, no?" Santos complained, thinking this was just adding to his misfortunes.
"What nonsense are you spouting? Look up, what do you see? Stars and the moon everywhere. This kind of weather changing…" Patton took the iced cola, wiped a bit of the spilled tea off his pants, and continued, "I should have been the one calling the shots back at the station."
He was complaining because he could have been promoted to Chief, but he was still a Deputy. All because a woman named Louise had suddenly arrived and become the Chief. A woman… the thought made him shake his head. She had made a severe mistake with Jason.
It was a grave mistake; she shouldn't have arrested Jason. In his view, Jason had likely guessed the location correctly this time. He had lived in this town longer than Patton had been a policeman. And he had no past indiscretions. That foolish woman had made a huge error.
"Yeah, why are there so many stars in the sky, but I can still feel a cold wind? On the road… oh damn, it's this cold wind," Santos was complaining when a cold breeze blew into the car, making him shiver again.
"Didn't the weather forecast predict this change in weather?" Patton complained.
"Hey, look at the villa…" Santos suddenly tapped on Patton's arm, "Something seems off, Deputy Chief. Should we go have a look?"
"Oh, heavens, you almost spilled my cola. Buddy…" Patton spread his legs, looked down and found some more tea on his pants, then complained, "This is a $200 pair of pants… my wife bought it. Two hundred dollars…"
"I know, I know, but it's not enough to hire a J-girl here. Mr. Prescott said it would cost three hundred dollars. When did our small-town prices get so high?" Santos said, still staring at the villa. "But I really think we need to check! I think I saw another figure."
"Damn it, we're right outside his house. Unless someone went in from the back door! But that's impossible, our police cordons are all set up in the backyard… that foreman wanted us to remove the cordons, his audacity reminded me of a circus clown, also a fat guy like him… wearing a clown hat, and a red nose…"
"Hey, Chief, we really need to check, I saw two people, you can see if you look up." Santos almost shouted at Patton.
So Patton turned his head and looked towards the villa. Sure enough, he saw another person. They were on the balcony, and there was another person on the balcony. The two were not far apart; it was clear one was tall and thin – that was Luke Prescott. The other had long loose hair and was wearing a red dress…
A woman in a red dress… "My God..." Officer Patton groaned involuntarily, immediately opening the car door and sprinting towards the villa. He shouted to Santos, who was trailing behind, "Call for backup, quickly! God, what have we seen..."
What had they seen? As they drew near, they saw a face, a face they could never forget. A face with eye sockets that had turned into dark hollows, a gaping mouth revealing only teeth, appearing as empty as a black hole.
"God... save me!"
It was the despairing voice of Luke Prescott. He kept retreating as if trying to escape the woman's grasp, but as he moved back, the balcony railing suddenly broke, and he fell.
There was a dull thud when Luke Prescott landed headfirst. He convulsed on the ground. The woman turned around and saw Officers Patton and Santos.
"Bang, bang, bang!" Without hesitation, Officer Patton opened fire at the corpse. The bullets made a muffled "puff, puff" sound upon impact, a sound that could make one's teeth cringe. However, the corpse only took a step back without falling.
"Shoot, Santos, goddamn it, shoot! Don't worry about him, if you don't shoot, we'll end up like Mr. Prescott!" Officer Patton demonstrated commendable composure, reloading and continuing to fire. However, after letting out a "ha-ha" eerie laughter, the corpse suddenly turned around, broke through the balcony railing, jumped down, and sprinted towards the backyard, quickly disappearing into the night.
"Good Lord, you check on Mr. Prescott, I'll call the station again!" Officer Patton didn't dare to complain. This was a shockingly big event.
Indeed, it was a big event.
Luke Prescott was dead, just as Jason had predicted, in a violent, unnatural way.
So when Chief Louise received Officer Patton's call, she sprung up from her chair, stunned for a moment, before managing to say, "I'll send reinforcements immediately. I will report to the state police station now, we need to set up a search team for the murderer right away."
As she dashed out of her office, she clapped her hands to gather the officers on duty and held a meeting in the conference room. Soon, all the officers on duty in the station had arrived.
"I'll keep it brief. We have a murder case, and the murderer may have fled. Our task is to block all the town's exits and start a thorough search. You... gather everyone in the station immediately, whether they're on vacation or sleeping, get them here..."
Immediately, the officers set to work. Before long, multiple police cars sped out of the station, rushing to all the exits around town. Just as Louise was about to head out, she spotted Jason in the interrogation room. Jason turned to look at her, flashed his teeth, and gave her a small smile.