The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 384: Forbidden to Speak

"She's gone," Lu Li said after a few moments, his eyes fixed on the body in the pool of blood. "We're going into the station. Right now."

They had to get off the second floor as quickly as possible, just to be safe. There was no telling if the scent of blood would attract more monsters, or if the faceless corpse would transform into one of those servants, just like the woman in the white dress.

"It's too far," JoJo said, her gaze fixed on the police station window across the way. "There's a narrow alley down below, and it's at least a two-meter jump. Besides, the window is closed."

"I'll demonstrate, Anna."

"Leave it to me," Anna's voice answered from the void. Then JoJo witnessed something astonishing: Lu Li rose from the floor and floated smoothly toward the window.

Invisible hands pushed open the window on the second floor of the police station. Lu Li sailed silently through the opening and landed inside before turning back to JoJo.

JoJo was carried across in the same fashion. The moment her feet touched the floorboards, Lu Li shut the window and pulled the curtains shut.

A quick scan of the second floor revealed a scene of chaos—overturned desks and chairs bore witness to a recent struggle.

His intuition gave no warning of danger, which suggested the station was safe for now. Lu Li hoped he might find some clue, any lead at all, to Oliver's whereabouts.

Lu Li poked his head through a slit in the fleshy wings that were draped over his shoulders like a grotesque, hoodless cloak. JoJo, ever his shadow, did the same, though the opening in her set of wings was smaller, enveloping her more completely.Creak...

JoJo was just beginning to relax when the sudden creak of a floorboard shattered the silence.

Lu Li spun toward the sound, his hand instantly going to the holster of his Spirit Gun. There, in the gloom of the second floor, a figure stood in the doorway of an office. One hand was pressed to its lips, a clear gesture for silence, while the other waved frantically, desperate to convey a message. The veins on its neck stood out like cords.

Lu Li understood immediately and held his tongue. JoJo glanced at him, read his expression, and quickly clamped a hand over her own mouth.

Seeing that the intruders had understood, the figure let its hand fall limply to its side. It then shuffled slowly toward Lu Li, its movements strange and hesitant.

Lu Li didn't lower his guard, and he could feel Anna's unseen presence poised to act.

As the figure drew nearer, Lu Li and JoJo could see the dirt and abrasions smearing his face and forehead. He was wearing a police uniform that, despite being much too large for him, was surprisingly clean.

The man stopped about two meters away from them. He dipped a finger into a nearby glass of water and began tracing words on the dusty surface of a desk. His hand trembled so badly it was difficult to make out the letters.

"I'm human."

JoJo had to bite her tongue to keep from shouting, "I know!"

Having written this, the man lifted his head to look at Lu Li and JoJo, then hunched over the desk once more. "Three... must not speak... ghost... kills."

It all clicked for JoJo. Now she understood why the man outside was dead.

Lu Li took a step toward the man. He flinched back instinctively, but then seemed to remember he was among his own kind and held his ground, swaying unsteadily.

Lu Li dipped his own finger in the water and wrote beside the man's message: "The ghost you're talking about—is it the woman with no face?"

"Yes! You've seen her?!" After tracing the words, comprehension flooded the man's eyes. They must have run into that horrifying woman... that's why there were only two of them left...

Lu Li nodded and wrote, "Is it a servant of the evil god?"

The man wrote back: "Servant? They... those monsters... they show up together."

"They? There are more of them?"

The man wrote with a frantic desperation, "They... those monsters... they come together... so many!"

This method of communication was painfully slow. Every wasted minute could be the one that cost Oliver his life.

"How can we talk?" Lu Li wrote.

"Only two... can hear... a third... no... she... is watching."

Lu Li grasped his meaning instantly. He met JoJo's eyes, and with a silent nod, she retreated to the far corner of the office.

Once she was a safe distance away, shrouded by the fleshy wings, Lu Li spoke to the man. "Are you an officer from this station?"

The sound of a human voice made the man jump. He trembled violently, his eyes darting around the room as he pressed a hand to his chest and muttered, "It's alright... it's alright..."

"Are you an officer here?" Lu Li asked again, his voice low.

The man raised his listless eyes. He stared at Lu Li with the hollow gaze of someone who hadn't slept in days and answered slowly, "I... yes... I'm an officer... from Tenebrae..."

"What's going on in the town?"

"The town..." The man trailed off, his voice a dry rasp. Then, a desperate spark of hope lit up his eyes. He grabbed Lu Li's sleeve. "Why are you asking these things?! You're from the outside, aren't you? Help me! You have to get me out of here!"

The man's voice was rising, growing dangerously loud in his agitation. Lu Li didn't respond immediately. He scanned their surroundings before saying quietly, "Yes, we're from the outside."

The man's excitement grew. Before he could speak again, Lu Li cut in, "First, I need to understand what's happened to this town. And I need to find someone."

The officer clutched his head, his voice cracking with despair. "Find someone? How could anyone possibly be alive in this place? They're all dead! First, the ones they sacrificed died. Then when the monsters showed up, more people died. And anyone the monsters killed... they became monsters, too..."

"We still have to find him," Lu Li stated calmly. "Even if all that's left is a body."

The man's head snapped up, his face a mask of terror. With his matted hair and blood-streaked eyes, he looked completely unhinged. "No! You can't!"

Lu Li regarded him with a steady gaze. "You can wait here. We'll come back for you after we've found him."

But the sheer terror of it all had shattered the man's sanity. His only thought was to escape. He lunged forward, reaching for Lu Li's collar, but before his hands could connect, a wave of unnatural cold washed over him, and he collapsed, unconscious.

Lu Li caught the man as he slumped forward, then glanced into the empty space beside him.

"Any louder and JoJo would have heard him," Anna's voice remarked, materializing out of thin air.

Ignoring her comment, Lu Li waved JoJo over from the corner. He carried the unconscious officer into what looked like the chief's office and settled him into an armchair.

"What happened to him?" JoJo whispered, once she was certain the man was truly out and couldn't hear their conversation.

"He's been driven mad by fear." Lu Li's eyes swept across the office, pausing for a moment on a wall clock. Its hands were stopped at twelve. He looked away.

JoJo, who had been following Lu Li's gaze, stared at the clock curiously. "It was morning when we got here... is it already noon?"

"Time has stopped," Lu Li said, stepping over to the desk and picking up a notepad.

JoJo noticed the pendulum was still. She said nothing more and began helping Lu Li search for clues.

The officer came to quickly. He remained silent in the chair, his eyes occasionally flicking toward Lu Li and JoJo as they methodically searched the office.

They spent the next fifteen minutes searching the station, but unfortunately, turned up nothing of use.

Tap-tap...

Then the officer, who had been as still and silent as a ghost, quietly tapped on the desk.