Jinn found himself in a staring contest with the joker in the wooden box. On the other side of the table, officer Chen had his eyes locked on his target.
"Do you know what this is?" Officer Chen asked carefully, his eyes steadily gleaming with cold energy.
"A toy." Jinn answered without hesitation. His calmness only made the two members of the church frown. But they did not say anything and allowed officer Chen to do his job.
"Indeed it is a toy," The young officer chuckled. "Can you tell me where you got it from?"
"I found this lying in the corridors of this very building."
Mrs. Walker and Mr. Huggings stood beside the matron, watching as Jinn answered everything.
Sister Agnes kept tapping her foot on the ground and biting her nails. There was a tray full of sweets and baked goods on the table, but she had not touched a single one since Jinn was brought in for questioning.
"And is it normal for you to find something like this in the hallway and take it with you?" the cheery officer continued with his questions smoothly, like he was having a conversation with Jinn.
"You would be surprised how many things you can find in those corridors, but I don't pick them up." Jinn picked the toy from the table and continued, "But this one caught my eye."
"Then do you know who this toy belongs to?"
"I am sorry, but why are we doing this again? I know that you want to ask me if I had anything to do with the deaths, and for some reason this toy gives you a reason to tie me to them."
Everyone in the room was surprised when Jinn suddenly took charge of the conversation. He placed the toy back on the table and looked at the officer in the eyes and asked,
"Why don't you just ask me that directly? If you ask me whether I killed those people, I will respond with a no. That would be the end of this whole thing."
Even officer Chen looked speechless for a moment before he chuckled wryly.
Raising a hand, he pointed a finger at the boy and said, "that is a really good point. Guess I was thinking too much about it."
Just as Jinn smiled, he added. "Like I said before, you might really have a bright future ahead of you."
His suggestive tone made the boy pause.
"Since we are done here, Jinn can go back to his room, right?" Sister Agnes could not stay still anymore and stepped forward and looked at the three investigators.
"Of course he can go, for now." Officer Chen nodded and gestured for Jinn to leave.
"Can I take this?" Jinn pointed at the creepy toy on the table, to which the three of them shook their heads in unison.
"This belonged to one of the victims, so we will hold on to it until the investigation is complete and the killer is apprehended." Miss Angelia said coldly, her eyes trying to pierce through Jinn's soul.
The boy calmly nodded and left the room. Once he was gone, the woman turned her attention to officer Chen and asked, "Did he lie about something?"
"Not a single thing," officer Chen curled his lips upwards in amusement.
"Maybe, but something about the boy feels off; he feels too calm."
Hearing Mr. Acosta's voice for the first time, officer Chen almost laughed, exclaiming, "Pfft!" He had to cover his mouth with his hands to stop the laughter from escaping.
"Is there something funny?" Acosta asked, making the officer shudder once more.
Officer Chen shook his head and said, "No, Nope! Everything is fine."
The reason why he was trying his best not to laugh was because Mr. Acosta had a very low-pitched voice.
The feminine-sounding voice contrasted sharply with his cold, dead face, creating a striking dissonance.
Mr. Acosta did not say anything else, but his eyes were now glued to officer Chen.
"We need to know who gave you that information; that person might have tried to steer off the investigation." Miss Angelia changed the topic and started giving orders.
"You will go and talk to your captain; we will stay here and take a look at the scenes of murders to see if we can find anything."
Officer Chen stood up to do a mock salute, placing his fist on his heart, standing straight as an arrow.
Ignoring the fool, she turned to the teachers and said, "I want all the staff members and the children to stay in their buildings. No one leaves this orphanage."
As everyone slowly cleared the room, only Sister Agnes was left. She was leaning on the table; her face was as blank as a paper. "Jinn…"
She raised her head and looked ahead with a focused look in her eyes, like she had made up her mind about something.
…
"You really threw them off of their games." As he walked towards the dormitory, Jinn heard the voice; it seemed to be in an oddly cheery mood.
"Things have just started; they will find other clues sooner or later." The boy whispered back, walking through the entrance of the building. "Both intentional and unintentional ones."
"You seem down for someone who had just cleared his name." The voice sounded confused, but Jinn just hummed in response.
'All the pieces on the board are moving as they should be, but I cannot lose control over them. A single variable and all of this falls apart.' Jinn walked through the empty halls, alone with his thoughts, while the three investigators moved in search of the truth.
'I do not have the proper training to play the real awakened ones, but from what I saw today, I should be able to play them.'
Officer Chen walked out of the orphanage when small droplets of rain started hitting his face. He looked up to see dark clouds gathering in the sky.
Clicking his tongue, he broke into a run, rushing towards the building of the Law Enforcement squad.
'But even as the play draws closer to the finale, when everything seems to be going well, why am I feeling this… this sense of foreboding that looms in my head?'