The Whitechapel Case [abandoned]

Part 3: The Usual Suspects (Chapter 5)

The Whitechapel Case
Fox-Trot-9

PG-13
Horror/Suspense/Mystery (How-Catch-'Em)
Disclaimer: I don't own Ghost Hunt or Death Note.

Part 3: The Usual Suspects
Chapter 5

Day 3—Madoka took off her coat, draped it around the back of a chair and sat at the table, watching the two men eat their grinders sandwiches, their faces hard-set and grim, their eyes somber. She found it disconcerting, even for Lin, whose taciturn disposition put a damper on most light-hearted occasions. It left her wondering what must have transpired during her absence. It must have been really heavy, she thought. God, I hope it had nothing to do with Somina Gavvers; I don't know what I'll do if it turns out she did it.

The thought left her unnaturally silent.

Which Lin noticed. After he finished eating, he said, "Madoka, what's wrong?"

"Oh! No, it's nothing," she lied. "I was just going over some of the findings in my head," and she got up, went over to the computer station where she compiled a stack of printouts containing dossiers and photocopies of news articles; she said, "Okay, I've done some research in a different tangent just to cover all the bases, but before I reveal my findings, I'm kind of curious what you guys were talking about. Did either of you find anything from the Robert Coltraine case of any relevance to our case?"

Lin glanced at Carmyne's direction as if to ask permission to reveal his sources, and Carmyne acquiesced with a nod of his head. "Father Carmyne and I were discussing the events after Robert Coltraine's exorcism, during which he gave me the seven diary pages missing from the original nine found in the public records, totaling sixteen pages in all."

"Wait, are you talking about the missing diary pages from the late Father Bowdern?"

Lin nodded; then Carmyne added, "And combine that with Lin's findings, we came to the conclusion that all the clergy involved in that exorcism—at least the ones we could verify—died of unknown causes, starting with Archbishop Joseph Ritter in 1967 all the way to Father Walter Halloran in 2005. And although all of them died of unknown causes, Joseph Ritter was the only one that showed no signs of blood loss, while the rest starting with Father Raymond J. Bishop's death in 1978 onwards show those signs."

Oh my God, this is crazy, thought Madoka, oblivious to her own gaping mouth. "You mean, Reynard Malders was behind those deaths, too?"

"I'm afraid so," and the old man sighed again, resigning himself to the horror of it all. "It's beginning to look more and more like the Kira case with every detail we manage to uncover. But believe me, it gets worse, much worse."

You're kidding me, right? What could be worse than that? she thought, taking her seat between the two across from them. "Please don't tell me you actually believe in Noll."

Both men looked at each other, neither of them knowing what to make of her question, then back at a distressed Madoka biting down on her lower lip.

Carmyne said, "Believe what?"

"I mean, do you believe Noll's implication that Somina Gavvers had anything to do with Gene's death? I know he has his reasons, but it's unthinkable; I've known her since middle school. She would never do anything like that to Gene, never! Please tell me you guys don't believe that; otherwise... I don't wanna go there."

Neither man expected that out of the woman, especially Lin; in fact, he was taken aback a little. Rarely had he ever found Madoka so distressed over anything, let alone over anything Noll had said. Damn it, Noll, if you don't start learning how to be more considerate to others, I'll make you learn the hard way, if I have to! He said, "I have no reason to believe it. I don't even think he was in his right mind when he reached those conclusions—at least, not since his run-in with Reynard at the asylum yesterday."