Chapter 76

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Nothing; there was no sign of any hint in the clues present at this very house. Miller has searched every section of this house, from the living room to the bedrooms and so on. The result was a dead end; nothing in this place can be used to track the identity of the perpetrator; not even fingerprints can be found at all, with the exception of the victim they found in the kitchen.

But he wanted more than that as he paced around in the living room, contemplating the next step in this investigation to get that bastard and bring him behind bars, although his mind could only think of one solution to achieve what he wanted. Sighing, he gritted his teeth from not finding any more answers to solve this mystery and was left with no choice but to wait for his colleague.

Sitting on the dirty couch with a loud, soft thud, Miller slouched his back before allowing the eerie atmosphere to calm his nerves while thinking this through, especially about how clever this serial mutilator is. Trying to catch this guy for so many days that his exhaustion starts to kick in, resulting in his mind having a slight drowsiness or sleepiness in his eyes, wanting to shut them for a few minutes of rest.

However, Walker's son couldn't when there were still lives at stake; innocent people are going to get gruesomely tortured to death if he doesn't find this individual fast enough, although the thought of the victims being alive was always a common occurrence for this person. I wish to prefer this guy as a normal murderer to a torturer.

Don't get him wrong, both are horrendous, but inflicting pain rather than outright killing them is the lowest of the low; the scum of the earth deserves no sympathy whatsoever, for they are worse than any criminals he encountered. In his eyes, The Deviler is simply a psychopathic sadistic bastard who enjoys hearing their victim's suffering in this twisted art form of his.

He imagines himself finally beating that monster to pulp with his own bare hands before throwing his ass to jail, satisfying his vengeance by breaking the killer's jaw and fracturing his bones for all the terrible things this piece of shit has done, hoping to hear the scream of pure agony out of him.

While that moment of retribution he dreams of having won't make any difference in the end; justice isn't as quick or easy in this world as the result will be the same, The Deviler will be judged before thrown to jail; not beaten per se but in the belief of their system in the rehabilitation of their offenders.

Miller finds his father's sense of justice questionable, whether or not the rehabilitation works out; he always wonders if the rehabilitated individual can truly redeem their wrongs. There are cases of repeat offenders and those who got away with their crimes because of a technicality, resulting in a free pass or another chance to commit more crimes.

Regardless, he wants to honor his father's view on justice, even if he thinks otherwise; justice is blindfolded by its own hypocrisy in the belief of fairness when, in truth, it's nothing but a two-face mask that is willing to bend the rules to achieve their goals or goals of getting paid while turning a blind eye on their corruption.

Whatever the view on justice is, Miller has one belief in his heart: the protection of innocent people. This is one of the motivating reasons why he finally followed in his father's footsteps in becoming a police officer, wanting to carry on the family legacy of serving his community by protecting them in every way possible. The cause for his creation of his influential group

"I found something." Adam's sudden appearance woke him up from his reverie, causing Miller to be startled and instinctively pull out his pistol from his holster, turning around only to notice his confused partner, raising an eyebrow or two from the gun being aimed directly in the direction of where he was standing.

"Ah, sorry," he said, putting his firearm away with the apologetic look of nearly shooting his colleague, "the place is getting on my nerves after you came out of nowhere." He needed to remind himself of not being easily spook, especially when he is being occupied by his thoughts; that could've ended badly for the both of them.

Giving the boss an understanding look before shrugging his shoulder in response to having made his own mistake, "no harm done," he said, turning his head away to where the stairs are, "so, what have you found?" While returning his attention back to Walker's son, he hinted at a subtle hint of curiosity in his tone of voice.

Miller tried his best not to let out a sigh of annoyance. "Nothing much, except the victim being tortured and mutilated, he said, responding with a serious tone of voice, "what about you? Did you found anything interesting?" He asked, intrigued by getting something valuable in their investigation of getting their hands on the culprit.

Smiling from the question, "as a matter of fact, I have," Adam approached him behind the couch, "I found a small frame with a drawing of a picture and cassette tape," first handing over the frame he was talking about, "take a look," handing him the item for his boss to inspect carefully, making sure not to break it or accidentally lose any valuable information.

Accepting the frame, Miller studied it closely; upon close inspection of the object, the drawing was simple but terrifying at the same time. "Sick bastard, he has the tenacity to draw art while his victims are being tortured to death", he said, looking away to hand it back to his colleague, not wanting to look at the drawing anymore.

But what Miller is more interested in are the cassettes. "Interesting, the perpetrator decided to leave us a cassette tape, Miller said, eyeing Adam's hand. "Bring the two items with us," he said in a demanding tone as he spun in motion to move toward the exit of this house, departing the place while the young man followed suit, walking side by side together.

"We're leaving already?" Adam asked, holding onto the frame and tape with his two hands, "Are we not going to call an ambulance or something to pick up the body?" The logical question he pointed out is that the victim is dead, and the fact there is a corpse lying around inside building isn't healthy for the mind and environment.

"Already did," Miller turned his head to look at his colleague, "our main concern is about what we found; don't let your thoughts drift off until we get back to my home," giving a stern reminder before returning his sight ahead, focusing his full attention on their current situation that can actually benefit them.

Adam bit his lips in reluctance, not liking the idea of leaving the dead body in this abandoned place but nonetheless agreeing; seeing no point in arguing when his boss has set his mind on something he should be focusing on rather than dwelling on unimportant things like this, "alright," he responded, following him without further objection.

Entering the vehicle, Adam carefully placed the items on his lap before putting his seat belt on as Miller adjusted his front mirror, preparing themselves to drive home with valuable clues that could finally help them in their investigation. "Now that we found something, I can't help but feel that our perpetrator is taunting us." Adam was the one who started their conversation as he shifted his view to the outside, seeing the clouds in the evening sky beginning to gather up, signaling rain to pour down on the city soon.

The sky was gradually darkening, a sign that night would soon fall as the sun descended to the horizon. Turning on the engine, Miller moved the brake to drive before placing his foot on the pedal, starting their trip to his home. "Taunting is not what he's doing," he began to speak, shifting the gear to move forward, "it's more of his style and hobby in creating art," the roads and streets are mostly empty, making it easier for him to reach the destination quicker, "his demented way of expressing himself in making his so-called masterpieces."

"By torturing innocent people just for his own sadistic enjoyment," Adam added, finding the whole thing completely disturbingly interesting altogether, "although, I suppose any form of art can be bad or good," something that can be interpreted in many ways and is hard to judge due to the fact that it's always different, "still, this is a form of torture and it's sick."

"Not the first time we had these in the past," Miller calmly responded, knowing full well how of the games this mutilator is playing, "he always leaves a picture of his drawing in his victim's bodies, but this is new even for me and you," surprised that the perpetrator left something other than a drawing in the body.

"Maybe he is becoming overconfident," the young man responded, glancing at his boss, who was focusing on the driving. "I mean, isn't that a good thing?" Being too confident is a road to failure, a sign of weakness that can be easily exploited to one's advantage. "If that's the case, then catching him will be easier since he is getting careless, and we could use that."

A smile graced the boss's lips: "Yeah man, I like what you are thinking." Honestly, this would make sense and can actually benefit them if this is the case. In his line of work, overconfidence and pride are what get criminals caught. "Anything can help us, Adam," Miller commented, turning right as they travel through a bridge; "this asshole will soon slip, and when he does, we will catch him." No one is perfect; mistakes are bound to occur no matter the situation or circumstance.

"This guy is becoming a pain in the ass." Jokingly stated by Adam, finding it funny that even criminals like these could be bothersome if left unchecked, "but I suppose he's just doing his job and we are doing ours." They can't stop the guy from doing his hobbies or interests, but at least they can stop him and save his future victims before this psycho could get to them. "You know, something just came to my mind when I observed the body for more details."

Interest built in Miller's face. "What kind of details?" He asked, curiously, desiring to know anything that can help them in this case, "Tell me, Adam," no detail is worthless; even the slightest of clues could be very crucial and useful." Truer words can never be said; even the smallest thing can help a lot if utilized in the right way.

"You see," Adam frowned while caressing his own chin in deep thought, "The Deviler has impressive skills in surgery and drawing art, making me think this guy must be in some professional job or at least a high-paying occupation." The drawing itself was stunning, breathtaking, and masterful in its craft and artistry; being a perfectionist in doing what he loves the most, it is very detailed with a disturbing impression under its meaning.

Miller nodded with agreement, "That would make sense," so many of the victims had their bodies surgically altered in gruesome ways, "but it doesn't explain why they are still alive in a gruesome state; wouldn't they be dead already from the amount of pain they are experiencing?" Something is at play here, and he's going to figure it out: "I wonder, maybe this mutilator is using them to practice his skills?"

"We have seen the body, and there were clear signs of torture," remembering past cases of similar nature; "however, to answer your last question, I believe it has to do with the paranormal." The very moment he said that, his boss almost widening in terror and shock at the possibility that "he could be using drugs to keep them alive, but I doubt their abilities to preserve a person's suffering in that level of state."

"Come again," caught off-guard by the notion, Miller asked, "paranormal? Adam, I hope you are not telling me this has to be related to that," knowing how dangerous and risky it is to mess with things beyond human understanding, "because if it is, then we might have a bigger problem than we thought." While he doesn't believe in that kind of stuff, the world is full of mysteries and unexplainable things.

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