Edited by: Waning_Crescents

As soon as Elena and Vergil returned to the police station, they immediately made their way to the chief’s office to report to him directly about what they discovered. The chief of the police, Nolan Montague, a quite young chief in his early thirties dedicated almost all his spare time to the police. He loved his job and this passion also earned him his position at a young age.

Although he had a special trait; he hated violence. For someone who worked for the police that mindset indeed was peculiar as their job entailed using force at some point, there was no way around it. Therefore, he tried his best to endure it, but at the same time he also quite often just left major crimes to the Conciliators for that reason, which sometimes caused disagreements with his subordinates.

However, Nolan sat in his office, sorting through his paperwork as Elena and Vergil entered the room. The young chief of the police lifted his head and glanced at the two; he already expected them. “Welcome back, I received your message. This is indeed a delicate matter.”

Vergil nodded. “The best scenario would be if it’s just a copycat, but if not then...”

The leader of the special force stopped talking and frowned, but Nolan picked up after him. “Then this could be another disaster.”

“Yeah,” Elena uttered, “We must let them know; this concerns them more than us. We were just helping them at that time. They will not be pleased hearing about it though.”

“I know,” Nolan stated, “Also this will be a joint operation, they will need our help, especially now.”

“Of course, that goes without saying,” Elena replied and even Vergil agreed without hesitation or complaint. This was a serious matter after all, he had no reason not to comply.

“For now, I will have Kale and Reeve dig deeper for information, and we also have to wait for the autopsy report. I also need a detailed report on what you two have discovered at the crime scene. The faster we can get to the bottom of this case, the better.”

Both nodded and left the room right after. The report needed to be handed in quickly after all; they had to act before the trail went cold.

After Nolan contacted the crime scene investigators and the intelligence department, he instantly informed the Head of the Conciliators of that matter.

The shocking news rattled Vince. “Are you sure?”

“I just sent the pictures from the crime scenes over to you, see for yourself," Nolan replied.

Vince opened the email along with the photos and remained silent for a while. He scrutinized the signs that were carved on the victim’s foreheads while his expression turned grim.

How can this be?

“So, what do you think?” Nolan’s voice pulled the chief of the Conciliators out of his thoughts.

“That is indeed similar, but how is that even possible and why now?” Vince answered, while he pondered over the presented facts. “They all have been contained or killed during the operation…and there was no activity anymore, so why now? This makes no sense!”

“Let’s not jump to conclusions just yet, there is still the possibility of an impostor by simply copying their methods. My men are already looking into it as we speak. I will send you the report as soon as I have it. Until then lie low, we still don’t know what we are dealing with.”

And this made sense. Without any accurate evidence they couldn’t just assume, they required proof.  For now, they needed to focus on finding the truth and worry about further steps along the way.

“Yeah…you are right.” Vince agreed. “Thanks for informing me about this. I’ll await your report.”

“Of course, no worries. Talk to you soon,” Nolan said and then hung up.

After the phone call, Vince still stared on the screen that showed the pictures he just received from the CIB. I would have never thought that I would see this again. How can this be and who is behind this?

He took a deep breath. How do I even explain that to the others, especially…

Vince leaned back and shook his head. No, nothing is set in stone yet. We know nothing of who they are or what their agenda is. I shouldn’t jump to conclusions like Nolan said.

However, one person came to his mind, who deserved to know about this situation right away, but at the same time he’d rather refrain from telling them because he was uncertain how they would receive the news.

With his index finger and thumb, he rubbed the space between his eyebrows and contemplated what to do. If I won’t let him know, he will never forgive me. It might be better to talk to him alone about this anyway instead in front of everyone.

Therefore, he dialed a number and only like thirty minutes later someone knocked at his office-door.

“Come in,” Vince said.

“It’s not like you to call for me out of the blue. Something must have happened, right?” Sigal instantly cut to the chase as he walked in.

“Sit down please,” Vince replied with a serious expression.

Uneasiness welled up inside of Sigal as he glanced at his superior and his mind drifted to the only matter at hand that could call for urgency, his partner Cal. Even though Vince told him the other day that his partner’s condition stabilized, he now worried that things took a turn for the worse.

Sigal knitted his brows as he moved up to Vince’s desk and sat down opposite of him. “Is it about the newbie's condition?”

This question caught Vince off-guard, and his eyes widened in surprise. Who would have thought that this tough man, who always claimed he needed and cared for no one, was indeed capable of expressing concern for another person?

Vince shook his head while his expression softened somewhat. “No, no, this has nothing to do with him. He is recovering fine.”

Relieved to hear that, Sigal couldn’t think of anything else why Vince appeared so tense. Thus, he pressed further for answers. “What is it then?”

“As you know the police are currently in charge of taking over major cases as we are understaffed right now.” Vince dug into the subject as carefully as possible. He wanted to ease the investigator into the topic before he presented the facts.

Sigal nodded.

“They received notice that two dead bodies were found and immediately went to the crime scene to investigate. However, what they found was kind of unsettling.”

“In what way?” Sigal furrowed his brows. Vince’s habit of beating around the bush when he didn’t know how to address a matter properly always irritated the investigator, he just wanted his superior to get to the point already.

“It’s best to show you.” Vince took out printed photos and placed them in front of his subordinate.

Sigal examined the photos and as his gaze fell onto the signs on the victims foreheads his eyes widened. His hands slightly trembled as he picked one photo up. “This…no, this can’t be!”

“Yeah, I was as shocked as you are. However, Nolan pointed out that this could just be an act of an impostor which is not impossible,” Vince mentioned.

The investigator fell into silence while he stared at the photo, his mind in disarray. Is this some kind of joke?

Images rushed through his head while his heart rate increased. Then he put one hand to his forehead, confusion written all over his face. “That doesn’t make any sense! We ended this three years ago and now you tell me that there is a possibility they might be back? That we actually missed something at the time? We even lost—”

“I said that we don’t know that!” Vince immediately cut him off. “Listen to me Sigal, we don’t know who is behind this, but there is a chance that it’s just someone who copies them. For now, we can just hope it is like that. I am still waiting for the report from the CIB and when we have that, we can start investigating as well.”

This news left Sigal distraught, he expected anything at this point, but not this. He clenched his right fist but remained silent. He had nothing to add. Vince made a valid point. He knew that, and yet he couldn’t stop the rage that was surging inside of him. These photos brought him back to a time when he felt useless and weak.

“Look, I know how you feel, believe me, but you have to stay put until we have more information. The police will help us out too, we will get to the bottom of this, I promise,” the chief said calmly, but then added, “I just thought I should let you know before I fill everyone else in later, please don’t make me regret it.”

Sigal eventually put the photo back down on the desk, closed his eyes for a second and took a deep breath. He had to try to stay calm, at least for now. “I understand what you are saying, and I am grateful that you came to me first. I am aware that we have no clear evidence yet and shouldn’t assume the worst, but we have to find the culprit and sort this mess out.”

“Of course!” the chief replied, relieved that his subordinate acted reasonably. He actually expected way more resistance.

“I will take my leave then,” Sigal got up from his seat and left the office.

***

After around three days, the chief of the Conciliators received a report from the police. Even though not much was discovered so far, the report at least covered overall information. It stated, beside the cause of death, the date and time of when the victims died, as well as their names and background information.

“Yeah, thank you. I just received your report. We will start investigating tomorrow.” Vince said as he talked to the chief of the CIB on the phone. “I am grateful for your assistance in that matter.”

After the phone call, Vince wasted no time and contacted his subordinates.