The Devil’s Cage - Chapter 154

Chapter 154

Kieran went over the file carefully . It was about a missing person who had committed murder right after reemerging .

The whole file could be divided into two parts .

The first part was about the missing link, Louver .

Ten years ago, when Louver had only been 15 years old, he had gone missing on his way to school .

The police had spent a huge amount of resources and manpower to locate the boy, but in the end had not managed to find him .

Three days earlier though, while Louver was still considered missing or dead, he had reemerged after ten whole years .

Not only had he come out of the shadows, but he had also ruthlessly killed a cab driver, Muntle .

The second part of the file was about the victim .

Muntle, a 50 year-old cab driver, had been found dead in his own house, and Louver’s fingerprints had been discovered all over the crime scene .

Muntle had been a friendly, kind person who had loved to read . Other than his death, there had been nothing special about him .

There was nothing else worth mentioning in the file, which caused even more doubts to form in Kieran’s mind .

"Anything to add about this Mr . Muntle?" Kieran asked Schmidt as he raised his head .

"I know what you mean . If a missing teen reemerges after ten years and kills a cab driver, then there must definitely be a connection between them . The cab driver might even be the one who kidnapped him ten years ago . That's what I thought, but my men investigated him, and everything seemed normal!" Schmidt shook his head .

"Everything seemed normal?" Kieran asked with a raised eyebrow .

"Everything seemed normal to us common people . That's why we needed someone like you who can see things from a different perspective!"

Schmidt opened his arms wide as he admitted his incompetency .

"Let’s go then . Let’s pay Mr . Muntle a visit!"

Kieran stood up .

He had thought about rejecting Schmidt’s request and continuing to study, but his promise to Nikorei forced him to help . After all, that promise was one of the reasons he had been allowed access to her books .

… .

A total of forty freezers were lined up against the walls in a ten-row, four-column arrangement .

There were also two autopsy tables in the middle of the room .

A forensics expert was waiting by one of them .

"Schmidt, if you keep me longer on a night shift next time, please pay me overtime!" the forensics expert started to rant as soon as Kieran and Schmidt entered the morgue .

"As long as you can get the director to approve it . "

As Schmidt spoke to the forensics expert, he headed towards one of the freezers .

It seemed like he was a regular there, but the expert quickly caught up with him .

He stopped Schmidt and opened the freezer himself .

"Hey, this place is being monitored! I have to act like I'm doing work here, or I’ll get another deduction in my pay!" the forensics expert reminded Schmidt as he smiled at Kieran .

"I'm Derrick, pleasure to meet you Mr . 2567," he introduced himself . "Your analysis of the Heart Taker was marvelous! If it’s possible . . . "

"That’s enough Derrick . We're here for serious business, not for tea and gossip," Schmidt cut Derrick off before he could finish .

"Fine, fine . The victim's name was Muntle, 50 years old, and his cause of death was multiple stabs all over his body . The lethal stab was delivered to his heart…"

Derrick pulled open the body bag as he spoke .

Kieran’s eyes focused on the corpse .

The victim was quite buff and strong . He looked more like a professional wrestler than an ordinary cab driver .

His palms and the backs of his hands had extremely thick calluses . Judging by his body, Kieran believed that he could crush a brick without trouble . Yet that buff guy had been killed off with minimal effort .

Muntle had suffered a stab to his chest, from the front right through the back . It was a clean cut directly through his heart .

It seemed like the murder weapon had been extremely sharp, and the killer had had some extraordinary skills .

However, what troubled Kieran more was the other cuts on Muntle’s body .

They were neither too deep, nor too shallow . They had been deep enough to cause excruciating pain, but not so much so as to be lethal .

"Louver was torturing Muntle!" Kieran speculated .

Given the circumstances, if Louver and Muntle had not been related in the kidnapping case or in some other way, Kieran would not believe it .

There was still a burning question he had to ask though .

"Surely Louver and Muntle must have made some noise while they were fighting . No passersby or neighbors heard anything?" Kieran asked .

Nothing of the sort was mentioned in the file .

"Nope, I’ve asked all the neighbours in the area, but none of them heard any screaming or fighting," Schmidt replied firmly .

"I think we should pay Muntle’s house a visit . Thanks for the help, Derrick!"

Kieran waved at the forensics expert before heading outside .

"I'm just doing my job," Derrick replied with a smile and a wave .

Schmidt left the morgue without any word or gesture . It seemed like their relationship required no extra chatter .

. . .

Muntle had lived at 155th Ciaran Street .

It was a street where below-average income families resided .

They were not exactly middle-class, yet they weren't willing to move to the slums either, so they all lived on that street .

The neighborhood was a little messy, but there were constantly policemen patrolling the area .

People still considered it a safe place, as most of the people who lived there were quite friendly .

Muntle's murder had caused a ripple throughout the streets though .

The rumors circulating made everyone afraid and paranoid .

The station had had to send more men to patrol the area .

Kieran noticed two simple police outposts and a group of patrolling policemen when he entered the street heading towards Muntle’s house .

"We’ve explained, but the people here are still worried . They think a serial killer like the Heart Taker killed Muntle . Muntle’s kid did not deserve any of this," Schmidt said helplessly .

"Did the people here know Louver?" Kieran could sense the hint from the way Schmidt explained things .

"Yeah . When Louver went missing, it caused quite a commotion like this one for a while . Now that everyone knows both incidents were linked . . . I can already imagine tomorrow's headlines . "

Schmidt's tone sounded even more helpless .

In fact, Kieran had already noticed a couple of reporters squatting down at the corners of the streets .

Some of them started taking pictures as soon as they saw Kieran and Schmidt .

Schmidt chased them away in an unfriendly tone, yet the reporters replied by taking pictures even faster .

Kieran shook his head as he watched . He finally understood why Schmidt was still a sheriff after working in the force for more than 10 years .

It would be strange if he had been promoted considering that temper of his .

While Schmidt was still yelling at the reporters, Kieran went over to the police line and entered Muntle's house with a slight push on the door .

Schmidt was the best clearance he could get if he wanted access to crime scenes . None of the patrolling officers would stop them .

Yet Kieran still frowned the second he stepped into the house .