The Devil’s Cage

As the mutterings spread, the crowd immediately turned to the few strong men.

Eckart quickly reacted to the situation since he wasn’t bothered by the others anymore.

“Who are you people?”

“Which company do you represent?”

The director scanned over the few strong men and asked his questions.

The scene suddenly quieted down, and it stunned the few strong men. This wasn’t within their expectations, Eckart’s questions even made him exchange gazes with each other anxiously.

They were ready to leave the scene, but before the men moved, Eckart shouted loudly.

“Officer Lin, Officer Mei, there are some troublemakers here! They might be related to the murder!”

His voice spread further ahead and caught the attention of Mei Huasheng and her partner, Lin An, who were on duty at the entrance of the rehabilitation center. Mei Huasheng walked over without a second thought.

As the officers were walking over, these few strong men who received money to cause trouble started to panic.

They were small-time thugs anyway, causing a fight was the best they could do, so anything involving murder was beyond their league.

“What are you talking about?!”

“We have nothing to do with this murder!”

One of them ranted loudly. The other two men turned around and ran for it.

A weak teammate does more harm than a strong enemy.

If they didn’t run, Mei Huasheng would have just asked questions.

Now?

“Get them!”

Lin An shouted, and the officers in the area quickly gave chase. Mei Huasheng was already chasing them.

The entrance of the soldier rehabilitation center plunged into chaos state in an instant.

…

While Kieran and Eckart were surrounded by reporters, Lyn Amie went down from another side of the minivan. He then quickly ran towards the soldier rehabilitation center.

He knew he had to quickly find out what kind of information was hidden from them; otherwise, they would fall into a passive state.

The makeup artist was kind, but not an idiot.

He knew everything about the rumors involving Eckart. Therefore, he understood that once Eckart was finished, the one who followed would not be Kieran but him who was already marked.

Lyn Amie stood outside the police line and stuck his head out to look around.

He saw Mei Huasheng, who he was familiar with, but he was smart enough not to speak with her.

Although they didn’t spend much time together, he knew Mei Huasheng would not spill any details to him, she might even take him down for trespassing.

As for Officer Lin An beside her?

Lyn Amie shook his head. He only met the officer once.

They were at most acquaintances, why would he help the makeup artist?

The same went for the other officers.

The makeup artist clenched his teeth and started to run around the rehabilitation center.

Since asking wasn’t a viable option, he would have to find it out himself.

Since the main entrance was sealed off, he had to find another access to get in.

The soldier rehabilitation center was renovated from an old school. The area wasn’t that big, but it wasn’t small by any means either.

Lyn Amie thought he could find some spots around the building that the officers forgot to seal off, but he underestimated Mei Huasheng. The building wasn’t just sealed off, his sneaky movements even attracted unwanted attention.

“Hey, what are you doing? Go away! This place is off-limits!”

A young officer saw the makeup artist’s suspicious movements and shouted at him.

The officer also saw the working badge that the makeup artist wore, and he frowned.

“O-Okay!”

Lyn Amie scratched his head, showed a flattering laugh, and backed off.

When he retreated back to the main entrance of the rehabilitation center, he was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.

He had no idea what to do anymore.

While he was getting more anxious, a loud shout sounded.

“Get them!”

Lyn Amie saw the officers on duty around the entrance, and the building started to run towards the crowd of reporters. He didn’t know what happened, but he knew it was his chance.

He didn’t go through the main entrance, though, as there were still guards. He went back around the building to the spot that he saw just now: corner around the main entrance that was hidden from the frontal view.

As expected, the young officer that shouted at him just now joined the chase.

Lyn Amie then climbed over the fence without a second thought.

He might walk like a lady, but he was born in a rural village, climbing trees and getting a bird’s nest on the branches were his daily routine during his youth.

And compared to a tree, the fence had spots for him to step and places for him to hold onto, it was too easy.

Neat and quick, Lyn Amie jumped into the backyard of the rehabilitation center, he then went in through the nearest window.

Huu!

He heaved a long sigh after he infiltrated the building. He turned around for a glance and made sure he wasn’t followed before he went along the corridor that leads to the crime scene.

The soldier rehabilitation center had two main buildings: treatment and wards in one building and an activity lounge in the other, which were the offices and classrooms and parents meeting room of the old school.

The crime scene was on the first floor of the wards, and Lym Amie was around the ward area now.

Soon, he saw the office in which the murder took place.

In front of the entrance were two officers on duty, and inside the office was filled with forensics team members taking notes.

When he saw the two officers, Lym Amie knew he couldn’t divert their attention.

Although the commotion that happened just now gave him a chance, he had no idea why, and it wouldn’t last too long.

He was running out of time!

Lym Amie kept his working badge and adjusted his emotions. He tried to calm himself down from the nervousness before running towards the two officers quickly.

“Q-Quick! You’re needed outside, something went down!”

Lyn Amie panted heavily as he spoke.

“I’ll go have a look!”

One of the two officers said to his other colleague before running outside.

The one remaining looked at Lym Amie with a sense of suspicion.

There were plainclothes officers among the force as well, but almost none of them would have a ponytail, except for some on special assignment.

“L-Let me catch my breath.”

“I’ll explain later.”

Lyn Amie waved his hand and took a peek inside the office.

There were two bodies, a male and a female.

The male was the doctor, the female was the nurse. Both of them kneeled down side by side, and a rope from the ceiling hung over their necks.

In front of the two bodies, though…

There were three fingers! Three cut off index fingers were laid straight up in front of the bodies.

It looked like three joss sticks being stuck up in front of the dead, except without the thick smoke from the burning.

There was blood on the ground where the fingers touched, but the three fingers themselves were very clean.

The bodies, the blood, the broken fingers formed an eerie and strange scene. Lym Amie couldn’t help but feel disgusted, and he didn’t hide it, he covered his mouth, looked up at the officer and asked, “W-Where is the toilet?”

“There.”

The suspicion in the officer’s eyes got denser, but he still pointed the way for Lyn Amie.

As he watched the makeup artist barge into the toilet, he switched on his talkie.

A while later—

Dak, Dak, Dak Dak.

Quick and rhythmic footsteps sounded, followed by Mei Huasheng’s appearance.

The female officer didn’t even waste a second and kicked the male toilet’s door open.

Bang!

The toilet was empty.

Mei Huasheng’s already cold face got colder.

She went outside the building without further ado.

She knew who she should talk to.