Goddess Bless You From Death

Case File 16.

King's car was parked in front of a small, somewhat incomplete house. It was covered in corrugated iron sheets with rubber cords holding the house together. However, for the owner, it was a home.

"Hello."

"H-Hello there," an elderly woman, around eighty, opened the door with a weary gesture.

"I'm a police officer."

"Here to investigate Jom?" Just mentioning the name of her recently deceased grandson made her voice tremble.

"Yes, I'm here to conduct a minor investigation. This is a warrant."

"I can't see well, young man. Never mind, but it's pretty messy inside." She walked out and sat on a wooden chair outside before gazing blankly at the floating clouds. Her life and her grandson's had been very difficult, and she never expected heaven would play such pranks again.

"The forensic unit couldn't come, so be cautious at your work. Wear gloves and don't mess up any potential evidence."

"Understood, sir."

After sending his subordinates inside, he squatted down next to the elderly woman, who looked extremely weak at this moment.

"Grandma, may I ask you a few more questions?"

"Go ahead."

"Before Jom disappeared, did he mention anything strange or tell you any unusual stories?"

"Sigh. Jom wasn't very talkative by nature; he always acted more than he spoke. That boy was a good kid. Even though his parents abandoned him, he said he would survive hic and he would take care of me until one of us was gone. But... hic" 

The old woman raised her wrinkled hands to cover her face, hiding her tears. Her only grandchild had been her anchor in life, but now he was gone. She no longer saw any beauty in the world. 

"Jom said... hic Jom said he was going to sell garlands and would be back soon. Even though he was sick, that boy... hic... still had to work without rest. He didn't have a life like other kids because he had to earn money for school.... I saved this money for him for his upcoming birthday."

She reached into the pocket of her faded traditional sleeveless blouse and pulled out a plastic bag containing some money.

"I saved my elderly pension each month to pay for Jom's tuition. That boy worked hard and gave it all to me. Hic. My poor, dear grandson." King had to comfort her, trying to ease her sorrow, while his subordinates inside the house continued searching for anything unusual.

"It smells just like the last house."

"Yeah, I noticed that too."

"Only bottles, boxes, and cans here."

"What are we supposed to find?"

"A lion-head clay doll."

"Not here."

"Not here either."

"Should we leave?"

Thud!

A noise from outside struck the tin roof, causing all three men to turn and look. They sent one officer to investigate while the others continued searching for anything out of the ordinary.

The young officer walked out through the back of the house.  Behind it was a bare patch of ground surface where the grass had been removed before planting vegetable plots. Further out was a deserted pond. He went to check the source of the sound but found only emptiness.

"There's nothing here," he muttered as he was about to turn back. Then he heard something splash in the water, making him turn around. The water rippled outward, although no wind or object was floating in it, so he cautiously moved closer. When he looked down, he saw only his own reflection. Suddenly, something floated to the surface, causing ripples. "What the—?"

What surfaced was a clay doll, face down. The young officer reached out to grab it with all his might. Each time he missed and his hand hit the icy cold water, he felt a shiver run down his spine. Just as he was about to grab the doll, a pale, bloodless hand with ragged, dark nails grasped his wrist. His eyes widened in terror as he looked at the facedown doll. Instead of just murky water, the bottom of the pond revealed the face of a woman with hollow eyes, revealing the depths within, and a ghoulish grin appeared, staring up at him. She thereafter pulled him down aggressively.

"Hey!!!" The sound of splashing water followed his final shout. He struggled to climb out, but the more he thrashed, the deeper he sank. His body grew numb from the cold, and he felt sharp pains as if something pierced his ankles. The black water was so opaque that he couldn't gauge how deep he had sunk. His breath began to fade, his body tightening as if being constricted, leaving him with no chance of escape—unless...

!!!

The last sound he heard was water bursting around him and the flicker of faint light before he lost consciousness.

"P'Singh!!!"

"Singha!!"

Everyone at the bank was shocked by the young inspector's actions. Singha had leapt into the water to save his subordinate without hesitation. He swam down, sweeping his hands around to find the person who had fallen in earlier.

The people on the shore could only stand there, worried. Thup searched anxiously for his big brother until he saw something rising from the water—a woman with hollow eyes and a pale face, her lips stretching into an open, eerie smile. Thup froze in fear, unable to move, sweat dripping from his forehead as his heart raced. The closer she got, the more immobilised he became, as though some force was binding him in place. As she was about to reach him, her smile vanished, replaced by a furious expression.

'A ghost like you can't interfere!!!

Thup felt a chill down his spine and turned around. He saw the ghost woman he had seen in his childhood. Her eyes and mouth were still sewn with red thread, just as he remembered, but now some of the threads were frayed. She gazed ahead with a dark, menacing expression.

Unlike before, she didn't look down at him but stared at the hollow-eyed ghost in front of her. No one moved-not even Thup-until the sudden splash of water made him turn to see Singha emerging from the water. When he looked back, both ghostly women had vanished.

"P'Singh!"

"Singh!"

Both Thup and King called out to Singha at the same time, but King reached him first.

"How do you feel? Let me see, are you hurt?" King wiped the face of the person who had just come out of the water with concern, but his hand was carelessly brushed away.

"No need to search anymore," Singha said, holding up the clay doll for everyone to see. "King, take your assistant to the hospital for a check-up. We're done for today. Meet back at the station."

Thup ran over, placing the jacket Singha had thrown off at him before jumping into the water onto Singha's broad shoulders. He glanced at something in Singha's hand and saw it was a horse-headed doll.

"I'll give you a ride," King grabbed Singha's arm.

"No need. I have somewhere to go."

"In this condition? Where could you possibly go?"

"I just got wet, not dying," Singha irritably shook off King's hand and headed to his car, with Thup following closely. Once in the car, Singha grabbed a towel from the back seat and roughly dried his hair to avoid water dripping onto his face.

"Are you okay to drive? Are you hurt anywhere?"

"If I couldn't drive, would you drive for me?"

"I-I can't drive."

"That's what I thought. Put them together in the bag," Singha said, tossing the doll onto Thup's lap. The young man, who was still unaccustomed to it, flinched and raised his hands in a respectful gesture, his fingers touching his eyebrows. As he placed the item into the evidence bag, he couldn't stop chanting prayers. "What's the date?"

"With her horse head, it's Lady Wannanongkran, Mae-Sue of Monday."

After experiencing this twice before, Thup knew exactly what to do next. He reached behind him, grabbed the file, and automatically opened it to check the list of victims. 

"Jom, sir. Jom was born on Monday and disappeared on Monday as well."

Singha glanced at the doll on Thup's lap and uttered curses under his breath. This wasn't a case of revenge killing, a murder driven by past grievances, or a crime born of personal trauma. It was a ritualistic killing. If he didn't catch the killer soon, it would happen again.

"Brother," Thup called softly, his eyes never leaving Singha since they got in the car.

"What?"

"Your arm..." Thup gently touched Singha's arm, which had a long scratch down to the elbow. It wasn't deep, with no blood, but it looked painful.

"Probably scratched by a branch underwater."

"Does it hurt?"

"No."

"Even so, you need to treat it. You can't leave it like this."

"Yeah, I know. It's just a scratch. It's not going to kill me. Now, can you take your hand off my arm?"

"Sorry," Thup apologised, pulling his hand back but still looking worried. "Where are we going?"

"That boy, Jom, didn't disappear from home; he went missing after he took a job selling garlands at a shop near the temple. If we want to investigate how he vanished, we need to start there." Thup nodded in understanding. "And have you contacted that person who knows about these things yet?"

"Not yet."

"Jump right to it. We need to know what this is all about."

"Well... If I say something, will you promise not to get mad?"

"Can I just start scolding you now?" Singha glanced at Thup, who sat next to him and looked so pleading that he automatically turned his eyes away. "Spit it out."

"He's not here. He's in Sisaket."

"Then call him."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"..Because he's not alive anymore."

"You've got to be kidding me, Thup."

"I once accompanied Luang Pu on alms rounds, and we passed by an old, uninhabited wooden house. Luang Pu would always stop at that house before continuing. One day, I asked him about it, and he told me that... the owner of that house practised black magic. When he grew old, he released his dark powers before he died. But... his soul didn't reincarnate. He's trapped in that house until his karma is resolved."

"So, you're saying we should go ask a ghost?"

"If it's not him, I don't know anyone else who could tell us what we need to know."

"You're such a.." Singha pressed his tongue against his cheek, trying to relieve his growing frustration. He had never faced a case this aggravating in his career, not just because of the criminal, but also because of the supernatural complications. He wondered if what Darin said about the Benjapes period —a period of bad luck— was true. If so, being thirty-five made sense because he felt genuinely cursed.

They arrived at the flower and garland shop near the temple. Singha was mildly irritated by his still-soaked clothes, but he was grateful that the car seats were leather, which would be easy to clean.

"Hello, I'm a police officer. I'd like to ask about Jom's disappearance."

"H-Hello, officer," a woman in her sixties greeted, her face showing signs of distress.

"Is this a convenient time for you?"

"Y-Yes, but I don't know anything about Jom's death."

"Did he behave strangely or mention anything unusual last time he worked here?"

"No, not at all. Usually, I hire Jom to sell garlands two days before the religious days. On that day, he was quiet and didn't talk to anyone, but he kept making mistakes with the garlands, so I... I ended up scolding him unintentionally. 

Suddenly, he shot me a glare and ran off into the temple. I never saw him again after that. B-But I didn't do anything to him, Officer." She quickly added, fearing she might be blamed.

"Around what time did that happen?"

"A little past six."

"He ran into the temple? Did you see him come out?"

"I don't know. I wasn't watching the whole time because I had to string the garlands myself."

"Did anyone see him leave the temple? It might help us figure out where he went before he disappeared."

"Try asking the corner shop over there. They have security cameras," Singha looked in the direction she pointed. The grocery store was located diagonally opposite the temple.

"Thank you."

Singha and Thup walked over to the shop and found a man in his fifties lying in a hammock, fanning himself.

"Hello, I'm a police officer. I'd like to ask you a few questions and check your security footage."

"I haven't done anything wrong, Officer."

"That's fine. We just need your cooperation for our investigation."

"Alright, what do you need?"

"Last Monday, a boy entered the temple between six and seven o'clock in the evening. Did you see him?"

"No, I was watching boxing."

"May I see the security footage, please?"

"My daughter isn't here, and I don't know how to make it work."

"I can handle it," Singha offered. The shop owner led them to a computer at the back of the shop.

"Here's the computer. Go ahead," Singha nodded before sitting down on the chair. "Oh my, you're soaked to the skin."

"My apologies," Singha said, starting to get up, but the shop owner stopped him.

"It's okay," he said, fetching a towel from the cupboard and handing it to Thup instead. "I sell these for fifty baht each. Pay up when you leave."

"Oh, okay. Thank you," Thup said, placing the bright orange towel on Singha's shoulders. "Just stay here, P'Singh. I'll go pay for it."

"Alright, pay for it first. I'll reimburse you later." When Thup walked out, Singha continued searching through the surveillance footage files. From the angle, the camera captured the front of the temple perfectly. He located the file corresponding to the date and month he was after and promptly opened it. The clip showed a boy entering the temple, covering the period from six to six-thirty. However, even at eight in the evening, there was still no sign of him coming out. 

"He didn't come out."

Singha muttered to himself. Driven by a hunch, he decided to check the clips from Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday as well. During mornings, around noon, and at five in the evening, more people entered and exited the temple, likely because it was when the almshouse distributed food. Outside of those times, there was not much activity. Strangely, the clip from Saturday, the same day Meen disappeared, showed a car coming and going at around 7:00 a.m. So, where did Meen go next? Singha reopened the clip of Jom to confirm it, just as Thup returned and stood behind him.

"P'Singh."

"What?"

"He didn't walk in alone."

"What do you mean? I can see right here that he-" Singha stopped abruptly when he noticed Thup staring at the screen intensely.

"What do you see?"

"The ghost I saw at the pond today... She was holding his hand when he walked in.”