It was six o'clock in the evening, we were all sitting in the inspectors' office (to my great regret and not only mine by the way, Olivia was there too) and planning the operation to apprehend Signor Linswand.
-And so the meeting starts at eight o'clock, it's now six. We only have two hours to prepare. -said Ashley, looking at her wristwatch.
-That's okay, we'll make it.
-The meeting place is pretty far away. We'll have to leave about forty minutes before the whole thing starts.
-I think it's all a trap. I suggest we don't go at all. -Olivia said.
-What if it's not? We'll miss the criminals and maybe the next victim, and the rings. -Alice said.
-We need to go to the armoury and find our bulletproof vests.
-We'll go, we'll find them. We also need a plan of the room where everything will take place.
-I'll go to these fanatics and tell them to draw it. -said Ashley and left the office.
Twenty minutes later, Ashley came back, along with a drawn plan of the place. After discussing some more details of the case, we went to the armoury, where we chose our weapons and found armoured waistcoats. Until 7.20 p.m. we went about our business, who was doing expertise, who was writing reports. And at exactly forty minutes to eight, we were already in the service car park. Me, Ashley and Alice drove to the address given to us by the sectarian in my car, and Dante, Silvio and Olivia drove Dante's car to get there. We were also followed by two police cars (in case we needed backup). It took us 35 minutes to get there and I parked the car where we had agreed. Two minutes later, Dante parked his car there too. The two backup cars were parked nearby as well, they were there kind of on ambush. Me, Ashley, Alice, Silvio, Dante and Olivia got out of the cars and went to the back entrance of the building (the building was very old and in some places even 'crumbled'), it was good that Ashley managed to get the floor plan from these sectarians. When we entered the building and switched on the torches, we saw this: an old dusty cupboard with some boxes. And there was a terrible stench, the smell of a decomposing corpse. We decided to go back there and find out what was in the boxes later. We walked down a small corridor and found a staircase and went down it. As we walked down the narrow, dusty corridors, we heard voices. It was impossible to make out what they were saying. Ashley learnt from the fanatics that the meeting would be in a large basement room.
-Now this whole sect is right underneath us. -Ashley said.
-Yeah, as long as the floors don't fall through. -Alice said jokingly.
-By the way, this whole building is in disrepair. So the joke about the floors falling through could very well be true.
-Let's hope we don't fall through and fall on those sectarians' heads.
The further we walked, the louder the voices got. After five minutes we reached a wooden door from behind which the voices were coming. Now we could make out what they were saying. A large number of people were saying over and over again, 'Thank the gods, the path to truth is bloody and cruel.' Ashley opened the wooden door a little and we saw a large hall with about 50 or so people in it. They were wearing burgundy hooded mantle cloaks and were walking in a circle.
It was kind of like a round dance, and there was something else inside the circle. But to our great regret from such a great distance we could not see what was there. Suddenly we noticed that a man was approaching the circle, he was wearing a black cloak. In his hands he held a blade, when he approached the circle people stopped and dispersed a little bit. When the man took off his hood, it became clear to us, it was Gerald Linswand. The last living cult leader.
-Which of you brothers and sisters will sacrifice yourselves in honour of the gods? Who among you is ready to know the truth? -Linswand spoke loudly.
- That will be me.
-It might as well be me.
-Allow me.
-Choose me.
Dozens of people started suggesting themselves for sacrifice. To be honest I was shocked, a huge number of people were ready to end their lives right now for some ritual.
-What are we going to do? -I asked in a whisper.
-We'll wait a bit, I'll fire a warning shot and we'll run in. -said my sister.
And then the horror began; Linswand had chosen some fellow for sacrifice and led him to the centre of the circle. And in the centre, we saw a stone pedestal, and there were rings on it. The same rings that went missing from my safe in the lab today. Apparently these sectarians don't have a 'Thou shalt not steal' commandment.
-Are you ready, Brother Luigi? -Linswand asked the guy.
-Yes, Reverend. -said the guy.
-In the name of the Gods. -said the 'Reverend.'
-In the name of the Gods. -said the boy.
Just as Linswand was about to stab the guy in the heart, a shot rang out.
-Hands on your head, it's the police. -shouted Ashley as we ran into the hall.
Signor Linswand even dropped his blade in surprise.
-Gerald Linswand, you are under arrest for the murders of fifty people. -said Dante and walked up to Linswand and handcuffed him.
-Oh, this must be ours. -said I, approaching the pedestal on which the rings were lying.
-Silvio, please tell those sitting in the ambush to come here and help with these fanatics.
-I don't know if we should send them to the police or to the psych ward.
-We'll figure it out.
-We need to get some more cars from the police station. We can't do it with two backup cars.
-I'll do it now. -Dante said.
Dante called a couple more cars from the station. While we waited for them, we got Linswand in my car and put two cops on him to keep him from escaping. Then we went back to the building and decided to look at that old cupboard.
-That wardrobe is so flimsy, I wish it hadn't fallen on us. -I said as I walked over to the wardrobe.
Ashley walked over to the wardrobe and looked into one of the boxes. When she looked inside the box, her face instantly changed.
-What's in there?
-It's...it's a heart.
-What?! -Hearing Ashley's words, I walked over to it.
And what I saw shocked me, there was a heart in the box. A real human heart. Now there's no doubt about it. These people are the real psychos, the mental hospital is crying for them.
-What's in the other boxes?
I opened another box and I saw fingers...severed fingers. Five severed fingers, I've seen a lot of things, but this is the first time I've seen people rip out someone's heart and cut off their fingers.
-It's crazy what these fanatics have in their heads. -said the sister.
-Gods in their heads, whom they praise endlessly.
-It's scary to even look at what's in the third box.
And honestly, it's better we don't look in that third box. When I opened that box, I was speechless.
-What have you got in there? -Alice came up to us and said.
-Skull.
-What?! -Alice couldn't believe her ears, just like I couldn't believe my eyes.
-I said we found a skull. And a heart and five severed fingers.
Come and see.
-No, I'll take your word for it. - Alice's face looked like she was going to vomit from the smell of decomposition and even more so from what she was about to see.
-Alice, go outside and get some fresh air. -I said after three minutes of silence.
-Oh, that's probably the best thing I can do right now. -saying that, my assistant ran outside.
-"Honestly, I'd walk out of here right now. You know, Rose, I don't understand, and probably never will, why you're even doing autopsies. Alice can't stand the smell of it.
-Well, you can wear a mask to keep the smell out, but as far as autopsies go, I think everyone who's ever had their first autopsy has been shocked or disgusted. You should have seen me the first time I went to an autopsy. All right, enough about that, we need to pack it all up now.
-Okay, I'll get the grippers and we'll bag it.
After packing the heart, fingers and skull we found, we decided to go and have a chat with Linswand. He was as calm as if he didn't realise that someone was planning to kill him too. Although it's unclear what these sectarians have in their heads, so it's possible that the Reverend is not even against this arrangement. At this point, Linswand has two options, either he'll be killed or he'll go to prison for life.
-Signor Linswand, what do you know about two of your sect leaders being murdered, do you know who the murderer might be?
-I can't imagine who could have killed them. -said the sectarian calmly.
-All right, but how do you explain the disappearance of the rings from my safe this afternoon and the fact that you had them at the meeting this evening?
-These rings are our property. They're our relics.
-These rings are evidence, and you had no right to steal them.
-Returning one's possessions to oneself is stealing?
-It is, especially if it's evidence.
-What do you say you almost killed a guy at your meeting?
-It was a sacred ritual, Brother Luigi was willing to sacrifice himself for the faith. For our Gods.
-Have you ever been told you're a nutcase?
-Yes, I have been told. But I don't care what evil tongues say.
-Yeah, but were you an accessory to the murder of 50 people? Or maybe you weren't an accessory but a murderer?
-It wasn't my fault, those people wanted to death. Death in the name of the Gods.
-It doesn't matter whether you admit your guilt or not, the only thing that matters is that you committed these crimes and you will answer for it.
-Look, can I ask you to speak to Rosalind Grace in private? - I realised who he was going to talk to me about.
-No, of course not. -Ashley said.
-Okay, we'll talk in private. -I said.
-What?But why Rose? -The last question my sister asked in a whisper.
-What if he's going to tell me something important to the case? We can't miss a chance to get information.
Actually, I was just wondering what he wanted from me now.
-Let's go. -After I said that, Linswand and I moved far enough away so that our conversation wouldn't be overheard.
There's a lot of cops around, so he can't escape if that's what he's trying to do by talking to me alone.
-What does he want? -I asked my main question from the start.
-Pretty much the samething he's always wanted, of course. He asked me to give you something, Rosalind.
-What is it?
-A letter. -Linswand took a small piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to me.
-So now he's using fanatics as messengers, I wonder. -I said, holding the note in my hands.
-And you must be wondering how we got the password to the safe.
-He told you.
-Yes, he did. He knows all about you, Rosalind.
-I'll change the password today.
-Will you change your passwords like you change your keys once a month?
-I will, I will. Is that all you were going to tell me?
-I guess so.
-Then we should head back.
We went back to Ashley and the other cops. I was clutching the note he wrote me in my pocket and I had this overwhelming urge to get a lighter and burn it right now. I hate him, I hate everything about him, I hate the day we met.
-What did Linswand say? -My sister asked me.
-Nothing relevant to the case.
-What did you talk about then?
-He started talking rubbish about his sect again.
-Okay. Oh, here comes backup. -Ashley said, looking at the three police cars that had arrived.
Then we took Linswand and about half the sectarians to the police station. Why half? Because the tip-offs were only on half the people at the meeting. The rest of the congregants were apparently new to the sect and had to be released. After we finished our work at the police station, we went home.