Poison City

It was the second day since their initial visit to the residence of Luo Zhuge, or John Mitchell. Keryn and Shrevas decided to go for the tougher task: going to the city archives and related record agencies to track down the paper trails for the rental place and possibly Luo Zhuge. Marcus, on the other hand, volunteered to go to the neighborhood once again to see if he could ask the neighbors some questions regarding what Luo Zhuge looked like, what his daily routine was and if possible, where he went off to, and exactly when he left. 

“Okay I’ve got everything, you ready?” Kevin came out of his office with a duffel bag holding his test kit and devices. Since the other detectives established that the place was most likely safe, he decided to volunteer to go with Marcus.

“Woah.” Marcus chuckled at Kevin’s heavy duty and larger than normal duffel bag: “You came prepared!”

“Yeah, I was thinking - I could dig up a bit around the place.” Kevin shrugged: “Or even the place itself.”

“Don’t even think about it. With that scapegoat doll right there I’ll not allow you to go in. Hell, I took two baths just last night, one time with some sage, wine and some incense burner ash, and one time with clean water. ”

“You told the landlady to hire an exorcist right?”

“I did. But who knows if that exorcist is legit. And even if he’s legit, there’s no guarantee he would come handle it right away.” Marcus shrugged: “So, all we’re gonna do is check out the surrounding area and interview the neighbors, if any of them would even talk to us.”

It turned out that Marcus’ worry was not warranted. Aside from Luo Zhuge, the nearby town houses were mostly occupied by older people, who were either retired or close to retirement. Most of them were still home.

“No - no, I don’t really remember him.” The first neighbor they interviewed was a kind looking old woman living across the road from Luo Zhuge, who smelled of fragrant dough and chocolate. “I rarely see him. He always goes in the early morning and comes back late at night, sometimes he does not come back at all. He - god, I don’t even know what he looks like - he always had that hat and his thick sunglasses on.”

“I’d assume so - what do you remember about him? He wouldn’t just cover his entire face up, that’d be way too suspicious. So you must have noticed something, right?” Marcus nodded as he prepared to write down whatever the old woman was about to say.

“I - I just remember - he had a nose, a mouth, and a - a full head of black hair.” The old woman thought for a moment, then answered: “He’s quite strong, but he walks funny. Sorry I cannot be more help. Do you want cookies? I just cooked some chocolate green tea cookies. The young people really love them. Do you want some?”

“Oh? You mean that young man?” The second neighbor living beside the previous old woman’s place: “I can vaguely recall - he’s a really interesting guy. Kind of a loner. But he appears to be a good guy.”

“How so?”

“Well, he’s always willing to help some of us fix stuff for a low price.” The old man scratched his head: “But - whenever he comes he’s always covering his face up with goggles and a facemask. He said it’s for cleanliness and protection. I think he’s just compulsive.”

“But - what does he look like? How tall? Any special characteristics you can tell us?” Kevin asked as he was ready to do a sketch. He was no good with it, but compared to Marcus, he was the better choice here.

“Umm - he’s kinda tall, but a bit thinner than you.” The old man nodded at Marcus: “Face shape wise - he’s got a normal shaped face, a bit of muscle but not too much. ”

“What about hair? Any scars, tattoos?”

“Black hair. No scars or tattoos.” The old man thought for a bit: “Oh - and he walks a little strange. It’s like he’s got some old injuries on his legs or his waist. We asked, he just doesn’t like talking about it.”

“What else? Does he have any noticeable habits?” Marcus rubbed his temples.

“Oh, yeah! ” The old man nodded and opened his eyes wide: “He likes to go on long walks during weekends, I think especially Saturday mornings.”

“Long walks? How’d you know?”

“Well, my son once met him during a hike!” The old man chuckled: “And he was walking along the lakes of the lake, alone. I mean - I wouldn’t advise anyone to go do that. But I guess it makes sense for him?”

“What do you mean? Why does it work for him?”

“Well - he’s - he’s always kinda sad. And he works harder than anyone I know.” The old man shook his head: “I just thought he lost someone in that - you know, incident. I didn’t dare ask. But it feels like so - ”

“Okay.” Marcus nodded.

The neighbors were kind, if not slightly nosy. But none of them was of any real help beyond providing them with a rough outline of Luo Zhuge, a description that he seemed to have injuries on his legs or waist, and the observation that he left for work early and came home late.

Another thing that caught Marcus’ attention was that, even though the place looked nice, the rent was still quite cheap. And a lot of the residents here had some sort of artifact hanging in their places, either it was talismans on the frames of the door or simple buddha statues. Apparently, they came from a temple just a few minutes of driving away - the Fragrant Chrysanthemum Temple.