“I’m going to make the deal.” When all four of them went into Captain Ko’s office, the captain told them with a straight face: “And - if you have any questions for him, let me know and I’ll ask him on your behalf. No guarantees on getting an answer though.”

“What kind of information does he want from you, captain? ” Keryn stared at Captain Ko with a frown: “If you don’t mind me asking.”

Captain Ko reacted to this question with a stern look on his face. He did not answer. Keryn did not back down, yet did not press or follow up either.

“It’s something in the past. Nothing that should concern you.” Captain Ko shook his head, since the other detectives in the room as well as Kevin were also looking at him with inquiring looks.

“It’s clearly very important to Brooklyn Payne. And - it’s clearly very valuable to him. ” Marcus decided to share some of the heat. “And if it is important enough for him to follow us on our investigation - ”

“And if Marcus is right about his not having too long, it’s clearly going to help him.” Pahaik also asked.

Captain Ko became more frustrated. Glancing through the face of everyone present, he eventually fixed his eyes on Marcus: “What did you see on him, Marcus?”

“Uh - well - ” Marcus stammered for a few seconds, not expecting the captain to turn the question right back on him. “He’s got these - these black ribbons around him, and black markings around his body.”

“Did the black marks reach his shoulders and the top of his head?” Captain Ko asked.

This question did not get an immediate answer from Marcus, but brought a moment of silence to the entire office. It appeared that none of the officers present was expecting the captain to throw such a question.

“They covered up his shoulders. And almost reached the top of his head.” Marcus thought for a moment, then answered, while his eyes continued to stay on the captain’s face, trying to read any tells he could find.

The corner of Captain Ko’s left eye twitched, then he sighed: “I see. This is understandable. I guess you also know what this means, huh? Marcus? Kevin?”

Marcus did not answer. He did not want to, as they were trying to keep pushing on the captain for a clear answer instead of diverting it anywhere else.

“The ‘lamps’ were distinguished. He’s suffering from some kind of curse, or infection from paranormal energy.” Kevin clearly was not one to scheme or power play in this kind of situation.

And by “lamps”, it was just an arcane and traditional way of describing the life force and vitality of a living human. In traditional terms, the three “lamps” were three flames burning on top of a person’s shoulders and their head. Extinguishing even one of the three would make the person much more vulnerable to the influence, infection and corruption of paranormal energy.

“Exactly.” Captain Ko nodded: “And that means if what was going on with him was not controlled, he would not have long. I know Brooklyn Payne. He values his life and what he has. He went to great lengths to make sure that he would not do without. So I’ll trade with him. His bluff is not gonna work on me.”

“But captain - ” Keryn tried to raise the question again: “Can we at least know, what kind of information he’s trying get from you - ”

Before Keryn could finish her sentence, someone knocked on the door to the captain’s office. It was Tyler Khan, with a concerned look on his face.

“Captain Ko, detectives.” The investigator left no time for anyone to greet him or ask him what he was here for: “Please, I would like to call for a meeting. We have some urgent matters we would like the PCPD’s help on.”

“We’re on it. Briefing room it is.” Captain Ko immediately acknowledged. Then he turned to those who tried to get an answer out of him: “You have my word, you’ll get the information you need, and my answer, in a timely manner.”

This was too good of an excuse. No matter how the detectives wanted to press on the issue, they could only do so later now.

“Thank you very much for coming.” Tyler Khan stood in front of the podium with a folder in his hand: “And I apologize in advance for interrupting your day. But I, and the community collective, really need your help on something.

“I don’t know if you’ve heard, but there’s been a couple of cases where highly esteemed spiritual and religious scholars have gone missing. And by scholars, I don’t mean those in academic institutions like schools or colleges. No, I meant those who lived in recluse, reserves from the temples and even deep in the mountains. There are hundreds of them, all scattered in different corners in the city. Most of them are in the South-Eastern District, you can imagine, but there are some in the other two districts as well.

“And recently, a lot of them are missing. Some of their prior residences showed signs of struggle and fighting, indicating foul play. But we cannot say for sure, as the community collective have not found any of them and brought them back.”

“Since when did it happen?” Marcus asked with a frown.

“Estimated first occurrence was at least a month ago.” Tyler Khan waved his folder: “I have the list of every known missing scholar here - some are confirmed, some are only suspected due to precautions. A lot of the scholars are known to be fond of going on sole travels, so - ”

“This is gonna be a high profile case. Why our district?” Captain Ko asked, still not fully convinced of the claim.