Chapter Twenty: The Red Line
"When laws fail to protect people,
people begin to invent their own laws."
— Inspector Howard
The fifth victim was not ordinary.
A philosophy professor.
A man known for his public opposition to Edgar's ideas.
He was found dead in his office.
No message.
No symbol.
But on the wall, a single sentence was written in charcoal:
"An idea does not need consent."
Howard felt nauseous.
This was no longer individual madness…
This was a war of ideas.
In his office,
Howard closed the door.
He opened Edgar's file…
then closed it.
He opened a new file,
empty,
and wrote on its cover:
"Exceptional Measure"
He told himself:
"If I can't arrest him…
I'll break him."
Not physically.
But morally.
Eliza was summoned suddenly.
Howard spoke to her with a blunt honesty she had never heard from him before:
"I need you to destroy him."
Her eyes widened.
"How?"
"With writing."
She fell silent.
"If we expose his contradictions,
show him as an obsessed man rather than a thinker…
the contagion will stop."
She whispered:
"Or it will spread even more."
Edgar felt something different in the air.
The city was no longer listening…
it was waiting.
He told himself:
When people wait…
they are ready to believe.
He began writing a new text.
Not about murder.
About choice.
The three of them met by coincidence.
Or so it seemed.
Howard said to Edgar:
"You've crossed the line."
Edgar smiled:
"Lines are drawn after disasters…
not before them."
He turned to Eliza:
"And you…
will you write the truth?
Or what comforts them?"
She didn't answer.
But silence was a decision.
The next morning,
Eliza's article was published.
The title was shocking:
"Edgar Wilmore: When Analysis Becomes an Excuse"
She didn't accuse him of murder.
But of something far more dangerous:
Creating an atmosphere that justifies murder.
The article spread like wildfire.
Some readers applauded.
Some defended him with fanaticism.
And some began writing texts even more extreme.
Edgar read the article slowly.
Then said, in a terrifying calm:
"Very well…
you have chosen war."
That night,
another crime occurred.
But this time…
the victim was one of Edgar's followers.
One message:
"An idea devours its own children."
Howard understood immediately.
Either the contagion had evolved…
or Edgar had decided to return.