"Wake up, Sarah, this isn't a video game. There are no limits here. The fact that they're children doesn't mean they can't commit crimes, especially since I'm talking about teenagers, a bunch of people who aren't mature enough yet, but their minds are developed enough for rebellion. Who knows what they might do?"
Arthur stated bluntly.
Sarah looked visibly shocked. She lowered her head slightly and leaned back, seemingly trying to relax, but her tense shoulders betrayed her.
Arthur didn't forget to add another sentence.
"Of course, all these assumptions are based on the premise that the killer is an acquaintance of the victim, which is why the footprints are so complicated. It would be different if the killer were a stranger who killed the priest for no reason."
"Is that a possibility? Many of your deductions are based on the premise that the killer is an acquaintance of the victim."
Sarah gave a bitter smile.
Arthur started smoking again, the light scent of smoke wafting through the room. He leaned back in his chair and exhaled the smoke upwards, temporarily blurring the ceiling light in his eyes.
In reality, there were other possibilities, after all, they were just footprints. Dozens of other scenarios could have happened.
When differentiating the footprints, Arthur had already made an assumption.
"What if the killer came to the church once on Sunday morning and then returned again to commit the murder at night? Then the killer would have two sets of footprints."
This seemed very difficult to distinguish, as the two sets of footprints would be identical if they came from the same person. What if this person walked around the church more than others? It was entirely possible.
So Arthur narrowed it down again: regardless of whether someone walked around the church more than others, the person who returned twice would definitely have two different sets of footprints originating from the church entrance.
Of course, another problem arose: what if the person who left the footprints was just a regular visitor who came back? Or what if someone returned to the church three or four times?
That's why Arthur only used this method to continue narrowing down the suspects, not to identify the killer.
Arthur rubbed his forehead. Looking at all those photos of footprints was giving him a real headache.
You could say the killer was smart enough to make easy things difficult. If the killer had broken into the church and into the priest's private room behind the sanctuary to kill him, the footprints left behind would definitely have been different from others. However, the killer chose to call the priest out and then murder him, making the footprints—which recorded the killer's path—almost indistinguishable from the others.
It was getting dark. Arthur's shift ended, and he walked home alone.
After ordering some fast food for dinner, he wasn't idle. He opened his computer and began searching for something.
Today, when he reported to his boss, Holand, Holand had given him a hint that the killer might be an extremist who hated religion, which led to this murder. He told him that if he determined that the suspect was someone from within that community, he could proceed from that angle.
Arthur didn't object to this. He paid more attention to the fact that if Holand had given a hint supporting the idea that the killer was from within the community, it was possible that the investigation assuming the killer was an outsider who committed a random murder had encountered difficulties, or even hit a dead end.
After a while, the fast food arrived. Arthur ate while searching for the typical reactions of extremist religious haters.
The results didn't match at all.
Aside from the priest's death, nothing in the church was damaged or desecrated. No Bibles were defaced or torn. The priest's death even looked incredibly peaceful, as if he had willingly allowed death to come to him rather than being murdered.
"Did the killer not dare to commit acts of religious desecration, or were they afraid that it would expose their motive and make the police suspicious?"
An idea flashed through Arthur's mind.
This seemed plausible, as the killer was a relatively careful person.
But this conclusion was almost meaningless, as it only served to add more to the pile of theories and hypotheses he had already made, and it didn't help much otherwise.
Nevertheless, he wrote it down and taped it to the clue board he had set up at home.
The forensic analysis was done, and tomorrow the body would be returned to the church for burial. Although it was reluctant, Arthur wanted to use the opportunity tomorrow to investigate some of the potential suspects he had narrowed down today.
Feeling his stomach full, Arthur conveniently packed up the rest of his dinner and put it in the fridge for later. Just as he closed the refrigerator door, a notification popped up on his phone.
It was a message from Sarah.
"Wanna go play basketball with me?"
Seeing the message, Arthur didn't hesitate. He messaged back.
"Where?"
Sarah sent him an address, about a twenty-minute walk from where he lived.
Arthur looked at his clue board for a moment, then conveniently grabbed his jacket from the hook and went outside.
To save time, Arthur took a taxi directly there.
As for the reason he agreed without hesitation to Sarah's invitation, it was actually very simple.
Mental health is important for everyone, and for police officers, it is a living pillar.
Working in law enforcement, especially in a department that has to encounter and respond to countless dark and horrific to disgusting scenes, the mental health of investigators often becomes precarious. Many people have even become so obsessed that they have to change professions or quit their jobs.