“Okay, here.” Keryn looked around i for a mihen handed Marcus a pair of pstic chopsticks, and with a pair of slightly worn rubber gloves.

  Marcus put on the gloves, then picked the yellow cloth apart using the chopsticks. It was a doll made of straws, red threads, with a dark metal nail running through the heart positioried to move the doll, but it seemed that it was o the floor itself.

  “’t move it?” Kery asked.

  “No.” Marcus sighed and shook his head: “We’ve gotta ask the nddy to either lock this house down, or find an exorcist.”

  “Why? What is it - ” Keryn looked over, aated: “Is that a scapegoat doll?”

  “Yes, exactly. And - not the normal kind, I would think.” Marcus poi the dark metal nail running through the doll’s body: “I don’t know what this is called. But this kind of nail usually means log something up or suppressing something crucial or evil. So even if we could remove it, we shouldn’t. It’s just bad things all around.”

  “What could happen if we did?”

  “It could alter the Fengshui of this pce, unleash the un presence ative energy locked by this nail, or absorb whatever curse this thing is taking on behalf of another person. Presumably John Mitchell or Luo Zhuge.”

  “Well, then. ” Keryn immediately moved away from the spot, “I guess the prudent thing to do is to call an exorcist? Or lock the pce down?”

  “What? NO!” This was just in time for the nddy to e down and overhear Keryn: “You ’t do that! What is wrong!?”

  “This.” Marcus stood up, still holding the pstic chopsticks and pointing at the straw doll in the empty space below the floorboards: “You know what this is, right?”

  “Oh my god. That cursed little rat!” The nddy’s face turned bitter the moment her eyes fixed on the doll: “What the fuck!? Who does that in other people’s houses?”

  “Nardless of whether you believe this thing or not, we o find a way to deal with this pd possibly lock your house down for at least some time.” Marcus sighed: “Maybe, you may want to ta exorcist?”

  “I - I do, and I know one - but - ” The nddy scratched her head, then asked all the detectives present with a frustrated tohis is ridiculous! This is bullshit! You guys must find him! I’ll o sue the shit out of that guy! How anyone sully my property like this!?”

  “Anything upstairs?” Keryn ighe nddy, who was on the verge of an outburst, and asked Shrevas directly.

  “Nothing stands out. Whoever lived there definitely ed the pce pretty thhly. We may o send in a forensics team to pick up DNA if we want to look any deeper.” Shrevas sighed: “The man knows what he’s doing. What’d you find?”

  “A scapegoat doll.” Marodded as he put the pstic chopsticks and his gloves into a small paper bag, then turo the nddy: “Any pce I burn this?”

  “Yeah - yeah, around the street er, there’s a patpty ground where the locals go there to burn inse and paper moo orate their loved ones.” The nddy was on her phone already, texting someoh angry fingers.

  “Alright.” After colleg some paper towels, some salt and a small bottle of cooking oil, Marcus turo but and double backed just to firm with Keryn and Shrevas: “Don’t touch that thing. Don’t touch it with anything wooden or metal either.”

  Burn marks, ashes and unburned pieces of paper s, letters and even paper houses, cars and servants were scattered around that patpty ground. A small brick furnace was on its side. It was crude, and its base was stuck to the ground with unevenly poured t. Something the locals have put up, it seems.

  Marcus took a bit of time to up the brick furnad collected some dried leaves. He thehe paper towels soaked in cooking oil as a catalyst, sprinkled salt onto the pstic bag, then used a small piece of dried tree branch to light up everything.

  There was no indicatioher this would work. And now he just hoped that no one would be stupid enough to touch that doll.

  “What the hell!? Again!?” The nddy’s shriek could be heard even from another end of the street.

  “What is it?” Marcus rushed back.

  It was a hole o spsh wall, hidden by a loose wooden panel. Behind it was a small empty space, inside which hid aem ed in yellow cloth and a small metal tool.

  “This guy really has something going.” Shrevas frowned as he reached over with another pair of pstic chopsticks, with his hands ed in thin pstic bags: “We have more reason to s this pow, we just need more men…”

  This time, the object ed in yellow cloth was not pio the wall and with Shrevas’ careful maneuver, it was moved slightly over the edge, the cloth was lifted and its true face was revealed.

  It was a wood carving. And in Marcus’ sight, there was nothing wrong or special about it. Just a simple small carving, slightly longer and thicker than an adult male’s thumb. When Marcus got close, and saw that the metal tool beside this wood carving was a mini chisel.

  “What is this?” Shrevas looked to Keryn and Marcus: “Anything I should be stressed about?”

  “Doesn’t seem so. But - ” Marcus scratched his head and looked around, then finally grabbed an old looking cloth kit towel, sprinkled some salt on it, pced it on the ter, then sigo Shrevas: “Put them on here.”

  Shrevas did as Marcus asked. And Marcus ed the wood carving and the chisel with the towel. This was not enough, and he decided to put a paper talisman on top just to have additional insurance.

  The nddy could not move her eyes away the moment she saw that talisman. After Marcus ed everything up once again with paper towels, she asked: “Dear officer, where did you get this talisman? I buy it off you?”

  “Sorry, not for sale. It’s a gift from a good friend.” Marcus shrugged.

  “Officers, I ask a question?” Before they left, the nddy called out to them from the doorstep.

  “Sure.” Keryn shrugged.

  “ you let me know at once when you find him? I o hold him atable for the damages.”

  “We’ll let you know. In the meantime you actually keep a for publiotifications from the PCPD.” Shrevas nodded.