Chapter 70: Chapter 070 Tracking
Lunney was sitting in front of his desk, his gaze dull as he fiddled with something. Because of the angle, Roger couldn’t see what was in Lunney’s hands, but the expression on his face was very strange.
It revealed a hint of… obsession.
Roger absentmindedly knocked on the door.
The crisp sound seemed somewhat grating in the empty hospital, but Lunney seemed not to hear it at all, bowing his head, immersed in his own world.
Henrik stopped in his tracks and asked in a low voice.
Roger casually pointed, feeling an increasing heat in his chest. Based on past experiences, whatever Lunney was holding must be some kind of mysterious object.
Henrik exerted force, and the door burst open. Startled, Lunney finally raised his head, and Roger saw what he had been playing with in his hands.
A doll made of straw, its crude face adorned with two white button eyes.
For some reason, seeing that ordinary toy, Roger couldn’t help but feel a chill in his heart.
“It’s a voodoo doll!”
Henrik stepped forward and snatched the straw doll from Lunney’s hands. He inspected it several times, a sharpness appearing in his eyes.
“Still say there’s no connection?!”
Suppressing his anger, Henrik demanded, “Where did this thing come from?!”
“What thing? Oh… you mean this doll?” Lunney seemed dazed, shaking his somewhat groggy head.
He flipped over the label on the box, “Strange, it was supposed to be documents and videos, how did it turn into a straw doll?”
“What is this thing?”
Roger asked in a low voice. He had heard of voodoo dolls before, which seemed to be used for curses or something similar.
“Go wash your face, and then get some rest,” Henrik told Lunney, who nodded numbly and then left the room.
Henrik, holding the doll, led Roger quickly toward the elevator.
“This is a kind of Voodoo skill, and actually, it’s a core witchcraft. Based on the material the doll is made of—straw, cloth, pottery, bone, and so on—the effects of the doll differ.”
Henrik pulled a strand of hair from the doll’s straw head, “First, the target’s hair is embedded into the head of the doll, then through a ritual, mysterious forces are invoked to activate it.”
“By the time the target gets their hands on this doll, they’ll be irresistibly drawn to it, their mind disturbed, and without any awareness, they’ll do some terrible things.”
“Like… killing someone!”
Roger said in a grave voice.
Henrik nodded, “Looks like Hannam must know he’s been exposed, that’s why he acted so quickly.”
“No! That’s not right!”
Henrik frowned, as if he had just thought of something.
“The ritual requires a lot of preparation and a specific time to cast, it couldn’t have been that quick.”
“This guy obviously had been preparing for a long time, it was just our appearance that forced him to move up his plan!”
“Truly a meticulous, cunning and insidious fellow.”
“The massacre at the manor, he left a scapegoat, allowing himself to escape unscathed, while drawing the attention of the police and the media.”
“After averting suspicion, he didn’t immediately start his killing spree to empower the Evil Spirit, but waited patiently, waiting for things to calm down before finishing off according to plan,” Henrik analyzed.
Roger suddenly thought of a question. “You just said that the Evil Spirit Hannam has mastered can now leave its birthplace.”
“Could it be that at the beginning, right after the ceremony was completed, this new-born Evil Spirit did not have such ability but only after the last time, when he lured people to the manor.”
“Through the killing, the Evil Spirit grew stronger and then acquired the ability to leave the manor!”
Upon hearing Roger’s words, Henrik first paused, then his face turned pale.
“This guy wants to escape!”
The elevator doors opened, and Henrik sprinted towards the car.
“Your analysis makes a lot of sense. If the Evil Spirit could leave the manor from the start, then Hannam wouldn’t have had to guard here for so long, and also wouldn’t have chosen the manor as the location for the first slaughter!”
“He had already cleared himself of suspicion and had gradually diminished the significance of the manor’s massacre. To create another killing would only arouse suspicion.”
“This means he had to do it for a reason, at that time the Evil Spirit hadn’t been able to leave the manor. He had to bring people there, to nourish the Evil Spirit with their fear, and then empower it through slaughter!”
Starting the car, “Now that his Evil Spirit has the ability to leave the manor, and he has begun his final wrap-up, as long as Gilmore dies.”
“All the clues will be completely severed.”
“Even if the Guild sends someone to investigate, they won’t find any results!”
Henrik let out a low growl.
From the beginning of the investigation, he had been led by the nose, and only now had he managed to clear up the clues and come to his senses.
“What should we do now?”
Having understood the cause and effect, Roger also knew that if they didn’t find Hannam quickly and let him leave Swamp Town, it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.
“The original package was switched by someone, definitely his doing. He couldn’t have gone far; we might still have time.”
The sky outside had turned completely dark, and Henrik took a deep breath. He quickly calmed down and parked the car in a barren area not far away.
“Can you drive?” Henrik asked.
Roger hesitated for a moment, then nodded. “Yes, just no license.”
Roger had been an experienced driver in his past life.
“You’ll drive later!”
“I need to conduct a simple ceremony.”
Henrik spoke in a deep voice.
“That was close. If we hadn’t come here tonight, by tomorrow morning, Gilmore would have been killed by Lunney, and all traces would have been completely lost.”
“Although we don’t know where exactly Hannam is hiding, fortunately, we’ve discovered this!”
Henrik clenched the voodoo doll in his hand.
“Thanks to you, Roger!”
Henrik pulled a backpack out of the trunk. His movements were quick, and in no time, he had cleared a spot and arranged the props. He drew the voodoo doll on the Array he had set up.
This was Roger’s first time observing a real mystical ceremony up close.
Henrik downed a bottle of unknown liquid. Ten seconds later, his spirit lifted, and his voice carried an eerie rhythm.
As the voice reached a high pitch, Henrik ignited the items around him, then pulled out a dagger and cut his palm, sprinkling the blood on the voodoo doll in the center of the Array.
A wisp of white smoke rose as if the doll were crying out in agony. Immediately after, the voodoo doll combusted without flame, turning into a wisp of black smoke that burrowed into Henrik’s forehead.
His form wavered slightly.
“I’ll show you the way.”
“I know where that guy is hiding!”
Henrik said in a deep voice.