“Ms. Summers, please advise.” right in front of the SFPD precinct where the body from the Prime Royals Hotel was stored, a man in a grey trench coat asked on the phone: “From what I heard from my sources inside the SFPD, the captain is delaying the move indefinitely. No one knows the reason. Should we just go in and break it out?”

“No. Keep your posts but stay cautious.” the voice of Carol Summers came from the phone: “The thing has become more of a time bomb. Just let the bureaucrats from the Division handle it.”

“Yes, but if I may say something, Ms. Summers.” the man said: “You don’t have to worry about the Division - half of their contracts on the west coast went through you. Even if you want to take your property back through some unofficial channels, none of them would even dare hold it against you. What we should worry about are those desperate remnants of the Coven of Crows. I almost caught a few of them the other day.”

“Just do as I said and be careful. Report to me if you heard anything.”

“Understood. Ms. Summers, anything else I can do for you?”

“Revisit what happened at the hotel. And take a look at those ‘influencers’ this time.” Carol Summers hesitated a bit and said: “It might just be them - instead of someone manipulating them as we previously thought. Report back to me if you heard anything on them.”

“Understood.”

When Carol Summers hung up her phone, her assistant on her side asked her: “Ms. Summers… are you really that worried about the new liaison in the Division? You know we are ready to take it back without anyone at the SFPD knowing anything.”

“It’s not just her I am worried about.” Carol Summers sighed and said: “It’s also the people she brought with her, and the kind of power they wield. It’s a new kind of power - something the academy definitely wouldn’t teach to their students, so she’s smart, and she branches out.”

“But… we can handle her if we need to?”

“We can. But we should avoid clashing with her directly. Especially just when she’s just got the liaison position and is in the mood of making someone an example.” Carol Summers gently ran her finger across the edge of her glass, which was filled with a glowing light green liquid: “At least before I can… recover from my condition.”

“But that body - if it’s that important to you... ”

“It’s not, not anymore.” Carol Summers laughed: “What do you know? This condition of mine actually gifted me with a great opportunity - now all I need is just a new vessel.”

“Ms. Corin is here.” just this moment, a man in black suit came into the room: “Do you want her to wait? Ms. Summers?”

“Show her in.” Carol Summers stood up from her chair.

--------------------------------------------

“Nekomata, huh?” back at the diner of the inn, when both Caroline and Jason’s family were asleep, Jianmen smiled at his students when pouring them tea, “Interesting… didn’t think I’ll see any here. They’re mostly in Japan.”

“Yeah. This one’s here and she’s very angry.” Caroline lifted the gauze on her shoulder, and saw that her claw mark had already healed: “If we lied to her, I thought she might’ve killed us.”

“And you wouldn’t allow it to happen, right Boss?” Jason held the tea cup with both hands and asked Jianmen with an expecting look.

“Meh, Nekomatas don’t like to kill.” Jianmen shrugged: “They like to bluff, but are mostly harmless. And you said this one has five tails? Quite impressive.”

“Not THAT impressive.” Caroline scoffed: “She almost got killed by Dr. Nguyen. And Dr. Nguyen doesn’t even feel that dangerous.”

“Yeah, I smelled it from you.” Jianmen shook his head: “The other thing with Nekomatas is that they’re not the fighting type. They’re more like the ‘confuse and manipulate’ type. The pressure you felt when she threatened you? That’s a manifestation of it.”

“Speaking of which, what can we do with this Dr. Nguyen situation Boss?” Jason asked: “We’ve been at it for a while, and all we know so far is that she’s dead and possessed by some really dangerous spirit related to the body we found. Should we go back to SFPD and take a look at that body?”

“Nonono, I told you, nobody move that thing for at least a week.”

“Yeah, but you just said that and left in such a hurry.” Caroline drank up her tea and pushed the cup forward for a refill: “What happened, Boss?”

“Entangling business, like I told you.” Jianmen answered with a wry smile: “And uh, I am embarrassed to say. I am once again kinda injured. So I can’t help much, unless you really needed me.”

“What!? Again? What happened?!” Caroline and Jason almost jumped.

“Not a big deal, not as serious as last time. ” Jianmen gave both Caroline and Jason a refill on their tea, then went into the kitchen and took out a bottle of wine: “And the reason, you’re sure you’re ready to handle the truth?”

“Nonono, just knowing you’re injured is good enough.” Jason immediately waved his hands: “I don’t wanna bleed from my ears again.”

“Speaking of bleeding...” Caroline suddenly realized something, then she took out her phone and opened up a photo of a closed up shot of some metal chains: “Boss, do you recognize this symbol?”

Jianmen’s facial expression turned serious: “This is on the chains that bind the body you guys found in the Prime Royals Hotel?”

“Yes. How’d you know?” Caroline nodded: “I noticed this symbol, because the cultists that attacked us at the house also had similar symbols carved on their chests. Especially this one that looked like a triangle with a hook inside.”

“That’s a scythe.” Jianmen nodded and answered: “Let’s hit the library - I’ve dealt with people who used this symbol before, it’s some sort of sealing rune. I remember an ugly witch who used this rune to seal a monster’s essence into her heart and used it to fuel her nasty magic. But I can’t remember the details.”

“Sounds like we can ask the witch herself.” Caroline joked.

“Yeah, that won’t happen. She’s pretty dead now.” Jianmen closed the diner door and reopened it, the door now led directly to the underground library: “Just like your encounter with the Nekomata mama today, turns out that killing and consuming monster cubs will bring about the fury of their parents. Who would’ve thought?”