Meanwhile....

  "What did you see?" Masudan said in a gentle voice, "When did your grandma pick you up?"

  Sammy sat on the otherside of the table. To ask a nine-year-old to recall what happened on a murder night is... not a great source of data. But Masuda doesn't have much option. The girl looked scared, not surprisingly. Interrogation rooms aren't the most sunshine and rainbow type of place. a dark, atmospheric room with one of my single lights, it's like every horror movie. She was silent for a while, not uttering a word.

  "When did your grandma pick you up?" Masuda asked again.

  Sammy slowly raised her head. In a small voice, she said, "Grandmama came when Daddy had fallen asleep."

  Masuda leaned back. He thought this might happen. "Does your grandma come often?" he asked.

  "Yes. She always comes to make me soup. Daddy's cooking is bad, so she comes." Sammy's face slowly started to light up, recalling Maria's food, but her smile slowly faded as she recalled the night, "she told me that night that she wanted me to see a gift she bought."

  "Did you see anything when you left?"

  "Daddy was still asleep. That's all."

  Masuda sighed. Smiling at the child, he waved and left the room. Behind the one-way glass, another officer stood by taking notes. Masuda walked in with a disappointed look, "Nothing," he said. "This is a dead end. We won't get anything unless we figure out the why."

  "What now?" the officer said.

  "We wait for Grace."

  .

  .

  .

  One day before the visit...

  The sound of running water and the clinking sounds of dishes spread around Maria's home as she washed plates and bowls. Sammy was no longer by her side, taken by Olivia as the rightful mother. But Maria wasn't worried. As long as Sammy was safe, she couldn't care less. But then, three knocks caught Maria's ear. It came from the door. She took off her gloves, turned off the tap, and made her way towards the door. She unlocked and opened it slightly, enough for her to see, not enough for anyone just to walk in.

  On the other side was a tall Asian woman, her hair tied in a bun, wearing a full white suit. Her face was quite sharp and defined, yet her expression was soft. "Ah Cing." She said.

  Grace ran up the stairs. She burst through Basil's door, making him jump from his couch. From the looks of it, she ran all the way here, which is odd because she usually takes a cab. She had a distressed look on her face, and her forehead glistened with sweat. "Maria's DEAD!" She yelled.

  Basil looked at Grace with a look of terror, not from the news, but from the sudden burst of his door. He looked past Grace at his once-unbroken door, now with the lock broken. "My door!" he cried, "Why didn't you just knock?!"

  "This isn't the time!" Grace said, "Maria is dead! She died in her own home!" She looked at Basil's unbothered face as if it were some everyday news. She doesn't understand how he can be so nonchalant about a woman they met only yesterday, dying.

  "Aren't you bothered?" Grace asked.

  "Why should I? Maria had a brain tumour," he said, "Death is the next step."

  "How did you-"

  "She had the habit of touching her head; a few times, her eyes winced when she did. In the kitchen, her body showed signs of dizziness, and on her table had crumpled up medical records, one of which stated that she had a tumour, blah blah blah." He said, "What I'm more facinated in is that file of yours. Anything worth my door?"

  The look on Grace's face was a mix of the usual. Confusion and awareness of Basil's carelessness for human death. She sighed at the fact that what Basil said would be true if it were true. "We've got the autopsy report on Kim's body," she said, handing him a file of pictures and papers.

  There were a total of four documents and three photos. One that showed the graphic image of Kim's opened up chest, showing where each stab wound hit what organ. There were two that struck the left Liver lobe, one on the right Liver lobe, as well as one that punctured the heart. Despite there being a total of eight stab wounds, Kim's flesh mainly protected more of the organs, though it didn't do much. The second photo was an X-ray, showing a fractured left rib. The final picture showed a full-body X-ray, which looked similar.

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  Throwing the documents back at Grace, Basil studied the pictures with sharp eyes. Grace also glanced through the documents after giving Basil an annoyed look. "looks pretty painful," she said, "It states that he was first stabbed in non-lethal areas, then the final kill. But why?"

  "I believe the goal is to not just kill Kim, but to send a message," Basil said, "If they wanted him dead, then they could have killed him quickly. If they were there to find something, there is no need to clean up after themselves. The man didn't resist one bit, yet he didn't know he was killed. This only means that he was killed some other way, some way that he wouldn't resist, voluntarily."

  "Maybe he wasn't fully himself?" Grace suggested, "Maybe he was unconscious or drugged."

  Basil's eyes lit up, "Excellent, my dear Grace!"

  "But again, how was he drugged? Autopsy showed no signs of substances in his body," she said, "how did he get drugged before he killed, or even know that he would be killed?"

  "A mystery that'll have to sit," he said, "For now, the one things thats imporant is meeting this cult. While I'm there, I'd like you to bring me some of the charms she had."

  "And. Why do you need those exactly?"

  "I'll explain later," he said.

  .

  .

  .

  Sangama's meeting grounds was like a palace. with gardens and man-made rivers flowing between, and a massive dome like struture at the centre. To anyone else, they may think this was like a national park or even a rich man's playground. Both could be true. Basil arrived at 12:00 PM sharp. When he entered, two ladies dressed in white greeted him with a smile that looked like wax. As they guided him towards the dome, Basil noticed that nearly everyone there was walking like ants, unified, structured, ants. The place gave him a feeling of paradise that was too perfect, as if the perfection didn't choose to be perfect.

  As he entered the dome, he saw rows of people, maybe around 30, sitting on the light brown wooden floors. They all wore the same white tunic as if it were part of their soul. They sat there; some looked peaceful, some looked dead. The inside was decorated with beams of wood that curved with the dome. There were symbols that were carved into pieces of stone that circled the bottom of the dome. In the front was a platform that was slightly elevated from the ground, made of wood. There was a wall at the back of the platform carved in the shape of a lotus flower, with a triangle in the middle. As Basil wandered in deeper, walking up to and getting awfully close and personal with anyone his eyes he caught, a woman stepped out from behind the platform. She was wearing a white suit instead of a tunic. Her hair was tied back into a ponytail, her stance was as straight as an arrow, and her smile was like the others, but with intent.

  "I see that we have a new member," she said with a calm voice. "My name is Ah Ching, You can call me Ms. Ching." She waved her hands to signal Basil to step closer, saying, "Don't be shy. Introduce yourself."

  As Basil walked up, his eyes shifted from one person to the next, each one looking more unnatrual then the next. Next, he looked at Ah Ching, Pupils dialated, redness in the face and neck area, and discomfort in the hip area. hard perfume with a hint of musk. He thought, fascinating.

  "My name is Basil House," he said, "I'm here because... I'd like to experience 'ascension'".

  Ching smiled as she pointed to an empty spot in the front row. She didn't say a word. She went up to the platform and spoke, "Now, we will have our father cleanse and see our souls. Please close your eyes."

  Seeing everyone shut their eyes, Basil closed his too. Though he couldn't see, his ears caught sounds of laughter and sobbing. Eventually, He heard silence. Slowly opening his eyes, he saw Father standing before him. It was the same man he saw on Maria's posters. The same indian man with his long white hair and beard. He wore a white robe that looked new and aged at the same time, and, stretching out his hands, he had a ruby ring. Basil looked up awkwardly, confused about the situation. He glanced towards Ah Ching for clues, only get to a weird step.

  "Don't worry, Mr. House." She said, "Father will see through your soul. Please kiss his ring."

  With some hesitation in his eyes, Basil slowly brought his lips to the ruby ring. As his lips made contact, He felt as if his mind entered a wormhole. His body began to lose weight, as if it were drowning. His vision blurred as he started to see himself in a dark void. When his vision cleared, he realised that he was no longer in the dome but in a messy street. A street he knew all too well. He heard the jingles of a candy cart. The laughter of children rang in his ear like an annoying alarm clock. His eyes shifted from one place to another. Suddenly, Time increased, and Basil saw kids and adults speed past his eyes like a movie blur. He watched as the sun set and the moon rose. Then, it all stopped. Looking behind him, he saw a crowd surrounding a building as a man was taken out in cuffs.

  His vision turned blurry once more as a black void engulfed his world. He felt something dripping from his nose, something slightly warm. His vision cleared again as he found himself seated back in front of Father and Ah Ching. His nose was bleeding, with blood and his ears were slightly ringing.

  "Father says." Ah Ching said softly, "He sees a boy who's grieving about something. Some kind of trauma."

  He watched Father's eyes closely. They were soft, at least to an average person. But Basil says nothing but emptiness, pure dread. There was no sense of compassion; his eyes were as dull as an old knife. HE stood up slowly, still a bit wobbly from the experience he just gone through. Giving the area one last look, he mumbled a thank you before leaving.

  Outside, Basil sighed. Looking towards a few bushes near the exit of the dome, he quietly walked towards it. Ensuring that the people within the dome don't see him, he slowly whispered, "Grace~ come out".

  Slowly, the dush made a rustling sound as a beautiful woman with long black hair rose out. Her suit was slightly dirty, and a few leaves were stuck in her hair. "How on earth did you know I was here?" she asked with a bewildered face. But Basil only grinned and picked a few leaves out.

  "I knew the moment I got here," he said, "It had just rained this morning, meaning that some areas would leave prints and marks from people's shoes. Everyone in this cult only wore a special kind of flat-bottom shoes, making their footprints much flatter and fuller. However, I noticed footprints that were not flat, but had a triangular shape at the front, and a final hole in the back. This means someone in here is wearing high heels. And it just so happens that you, my dear Grace, almost exclusively wear high heels."

  "You never fail to impress me.' Grace said, "Though it's a little weird how you were paying attention to footprints while you're in a cult meeting."

  "That is not important," Basil replied with a slightly offended tone, "What's important is that I have all the facts I need to solve the case."

  "Really?!"

  "Yup!" Basil exclaimed, "But I'll tell you when we get back. This place lacks the flair for me to exclaim my brilliant deduction."