Gregor decided to investigate the situation of the murders further before taking any action. Gregor took the newspaper Eleanor gave him and began to read it.
He passed through the sports section without reading it; he read the section about international news. One news item discussed Rebecca Burey's death and the suspect, Michael the Ungrateful. Fortunately for Gregor, the suspect's description was not detailed.
He read the local news section, where the main topic was the murders that happened in the town.
The first murder occurred on March 19. The victim's name was Marianna Elwes, a 50-year-old housewife. On the morning of March 19, she left her house to buy groceries for her family, but she never returned. The first to notice her absence was her youngest son, who at 13:00 asked his older sister why she was taking so long to return home.
At 18:00, after her husband, Gerold Elwes, came back from work, their children ran to tell him that Marianna still wasn't home.
Worried about her, he went to the police to report that something might have happened.
Her body was found on the morning of March 20 in the southwest region of town, next to a tree.
Her body was missing her right leg; her face was covered in an unknown black liquid, and witnesses said that the body had an unbearable smell of ammonia. All her belongings, including money and groceries, were there and were not stolen.
The second murder happened on April 3. The victim's name was Jason Harrel, a 17-year-old man. He left to help his father at his job in the morning. That day he was supposed to leave work early to go on a date with his girlfriend; therefore, when he didn't show up, his father, Gerard Harrel, thought that he decided to skip work to buy a gift for her.
His disappearance was only noticed later that day when his girlfriend arrived at his house, furious that he had missed their date.
His body was found on the morning of April 3, in the southeast part of town.
His body was missing his left leg; his body was covered with superficial cuts, as if whoever inflicted them was inexperienced or was playing some sort of sick game.
The third murder happened on April 17. The victim's name was Anna Dennell, a 30-year-old housewife who lived in the northwest part of town. Her husband left for work in the morning, and when he returned, he smelled a putrid odor coming from their room. When he entered, he saw Anna's body in their bed, covered in blood and missing her right arm.
After reading the details of the murders, Gregor placed the newspaper on the desk.
He closed his eyes and reflected on what he had discovered.
These aren't normal murders; this is a full ritual...
The responsible for them is most probably a Beyonder of the Criminal Pathway...
I'll need to be really careful when investigating.
....
Friday, April 26, 428. 10:00 a.m.
Gregor woke up early and ate breakfast at the hotel's restaurant before returning to his room.
For the first time, he put on clown makeup using the palette Lana gave him.
He painted his face entirely white, adding a red smile that stretched to the middle of his cheeks. He painted the area around his eyes in a diamond shape, the left eye blue, the right green.
He put on the clothes Lana gave him and left the hotel.
As he walked in the street, he caught everyone's attention. They looked at him suspiciously and with clear tension.
Without a single drop of shame or embarrassment, Gregor began to dance clumsily and joyfully while singing a song in a language no one could decipher.
As he danced clumsily, the bells in his hat grabbed the passersby's attention.
People began to stop what they were doing to see what Gregor was doing.
People left their houses and gathered around; some stopped their work to see.
As more people gathered, they could not help but crack a smile at him and his awkward dance.
The song, which sounded like gibberish to them, only made it more comical.
Taking advantage of the attention, Gregor activated the Eye of Providence and began quickly looking at everyone.
He looked at a light that belonged to a nearby child. He saw another point of view of Eleanor's vision.
He looked at a light that belonged to an elderly woman, the owner of a nearby bakery. He saw another point of view of Eleanor's vision.
He looked at the lights of many other people, children, men, women, teenagers, and elders. But he only saw other points of view of Eleanor's vision.
The town had less than 500 citizens. At that moment, Gregor saw the vision of almost one-tenth of the town's citizens.
That made Gregor a little anxious, afraid that he would not find anything that would help his investigation, but he did not let it show and kept dancing and singing normally.
His plan with the presentation was not only to gather people to see their visions but also to relieve some of the tension everyone had and bring, even if momentarily, a glimpse of joy and hope.
As the song ended, Gregor stopped dancing and bowed to his audience. The crowd erupted in applause. Some returned to their daily activities, while others approached Gregor to talk.
Some children surrounded him along with their parents.
Gregor opened a warm smile as he presented himself.
"Hello, my dear friends! I'm the world's greatest wandering clown, Pedrolino Pierrot!"
One child tugged on Gregor's shirt. "You looked so cool, Mistel Pedlolino!" The boy seemed to struggled to pronounce the R sound.
"Matthew, it's rude to pull on people's clothes." His mother scolded.
"Sorry, Mistel Pedlolino," the boy apologized shyly.
Gregor chuckled. "Oh, don't worry, it's just fabric. Nothing important. And please, drop the Mister. I'm just a humble clown."
Another boy, slightly taller than Matthew, pushed him aside to get Gregor's attention. Matthew retaliated with a shove of his own, and their mothers looked on, unsure how to intervene.
Before things could escalate, Gregor pulled a deck of cards from his pocket and began to shuffle them.
"Who here likes magic?" he asked.
"I do!" Matthew shouted.
"Oh, shut up, Matt. You can't even talk right. I like magic more!" the other boy replied.
Gregor considered intervening, but since the kids' mothers weren't doing anything, he let them do what they wanted.
I guess that's how kids are. Becca also picked on her friends when she was a kid. I still remember when she threw mud at that noble girl's dress; she got grounded for a month.
Gregor remembered his memories of the past as he shuffled the deck.
"I need a volunteer for this trick," he said. To prevent further conflict between the children, he turned to one of the adults there. "How about you, Miss? Would you like to help?"
The woman stepped forward, and Gregor handed her the deck.
"This is a standard 55-card deck," he explained. "You can count them if you like. And as you can see, I have nothing in my hands." He showed her his empty palms.
"Now, please divide the cards among everyone until you have none left."
The woman distributed the cards, giving four to five cards to each person. When she was done, Gregor spoke again.
"Now, everyone has a share of the deck, and only you and I have none. Correct?"
The woman nodded.
Gregor glanced around dramatically. "Miss, are you absolutely certain you handed out every card?"
"Yes, I'm sure," she replied.
Gregor leaned closer. "That's odd because..." He paused, moving his hand near her ear without touching her. "I could swear I saw a card..." He pulled his hand back and shook it. Suddenly, a card appeared between his fingers—the King of Cups. "...right here."
The crowd gasped in amazement, even the woman looking impressed.
Gregor continued entertaining his audience throughout the day, all while masking his investigation as the antics of a traveling clown seeking an audience.