GODDESSBLESSYOUFROMDEATH, Case File 2: Statement from the Taxi Driver

Singha was standing in the observation room, his sharp eyes fixed on the pale young man in the interrogation room. The observation room door opened, and Lieutenant Khem entered, handing over the case file to his chief, who was still glaring at the young man.

“He answered all questions the same way, Inspector.”

“Did anyone else see anyone else in the area?”

“No. The police initially at the scene didn’t see anyone either.”

Lieutenant Khem turned to look at the young man in the interrogation room and sighed. “I don’t know. I think this kid doesn’t seem like a killer. Not just because of his innocent face, but also because his statements show no inconsistencies. Plus, the fact that he had to take a taxi to the crime scene, he couldn’t possibly have transported all the bodies there, right?”

Singha didn’t respond as he was reading the case file in his hands, just as the observation room door opened again, this time with Lieutenant Prom, a young officer who had recently transferred.

“Inspector, here’s the driver’s information. We’ve issued a summons for him to come in for questioning.”

“Hmm.”

“Also, Dr. Say is back.”

“And the victims’ bodies?”

“They’ve been sent over as well.”

Singha walked back into the interrogation room. As soon as the young officer entered, Thup straightened up automatically, feeling tense.

“Stand up.”

“Where…where are we going?”

“Back to your cell. We need this room.”

“Can I stay somewhere else? Another cell, storage room, anywhere but not that cell, please. I’m begging you.” The young man was visibly agitated.

“What’s wrong with going back there?”

“You wouldn’t believe me anyway… right?”

The young inspector puffed out his cheeks in frustration.

“Inspector, Dr. Say is asking for you.” Sergeant Khem opened the door to inform his boss.

“Yeah, I’ll be there in a minute.” Singha grabbed Thup by the collar, making him follow, disregarding his near-tearful state. “Lieutenant, is there any other room available?”

“Just that?”

“Yes.”

Singha dragged the young man by the back of his shirt, making him follow up to the upper floor of the police station. Despite the small distance in their steps, it seemed Thup couldn’t keep up with the person in front at all.

“Officer…sir, I…I can’t keep up.” Thup gasped, his shirt collar pulled so tight he could barely breathe, but the person ahead showed no signs of slowing down.

When they reached the front of an office door clearly marked with an inspector’s badge, Thup pressed his lips together. The door was opened just as Singha pushed the young man inside. He then went to retrieve a key from his desk drawer. This room would do for a temporary holding place, at least until the investigation was over. There was only one entry and exit. Thup chose to sit on the long black sofa cautiously, looking around the room warily.

“If you’re going to be difficult again, you can go back to your old cell.”

“Thank…thank you.” The ringing of a phone from his jeans pocket didn’t stop, forcing Singha to answer, though he kept his eyes on the young man.

“What?”

[Where are you?]

   “Upstairs.”

[Come down, Sing, I’ve got something to show you.]

   “Wait a moment.” Singha hung up quickly, walked to the small fridge in the room, grabbed a bottle of water, and tossed it to the young man on the sofa. “Don’t cause any trouble.”

“I’ll stay here.”

“Thank you, Inspector Singha.” The addressed man glanced slightly before walking out, not forgetting to lock the door from the outside.

He walked downstairs, then opened the door to the forensic department. The clattering sounds from the autopsy room didn’t unsettle Singha at all. Once inside, he found his friend, a young man with red hair contrasting with the white lab gown he was wearing, pacing between the three autopsy tables and the four open body storage units behind.

“What have you got?”

“Come here, put these on.” Singha grabbed gloves from a box and put them on before standing next to his friend. “The seven victims’ bodies show no physical similarities. This corpse is an eighteen-year-old male. That one’s a forty-three-year-old male. And that one’s a fourteen-year-old female.” Say pointed to the bodies laid out on the tables in turn, then turned to the body storage units behind.

“This one’s a fifteen-year-old male, that one’s a nineteen-year-old male. And the last one is a fifteen-year-old female.”

Singha scanned each corpse, particularly lingering on the body of the young girl.

“I know what you’re thinking, the killer isn’t specifying the type of victims here. It’s sloppy work, Sing.”

“It’s not certain there’s no connection yet. We’ll see once we have detailed backgrounds of each.”

“Yeah, I hope so.” Say walked back to the first body’s table. “Each body was treated the same: sewn eyes with red thread and lips sewn shut in an ‘X’ pattern. Look here, the victims’ necks have ligature marks from rope, but there’s something deeper.”

“Wire?” Singha leaned in to examine the victim’s neck. Apart from the bruising from the rope, there were also small, deep cuts.

“Not sure yet, but I think so. These cuts are the cause of death, strangulation until asphyxiation. The victims probably didn’t see it coming. The more they struggled, the tighter the wire-like material cut into their necks from behind, slicing deeply into the flesh. I think the killer is probably a teenager or maybe young adult, possibly around one-eighty centimeters tall or more.”

“And at the crime scene, did you find anything else?”

“There’s nothing suspicious, but you might want to look at the photos again. There are two sets of footprints: one from our police and the other from the suspect.”

“That kid is over one-eighty centimeters tall.” Singha muttered to himself.

“The thread sewn over the eyes and mouth of the victims probably isn’t to prevent them from calling for help; it’s more likely due to some psychological repression or mental illness, to torment the victims more.”

“Examine the neck wounds and the thread too, just in case. And if the victims were still conscious when strangled, they might have struggled or fought back. Check under their fingernails for any DNA traces from the killer.”

“Okay, I’ll handle it.”

“If you find anything else, let me know, and I’ll need the autopsy reports.”

“I’ll get them to you.” Then they both went back to their respective duties.

Singha walked back to the interrogation room because he received a message that the taxi driver was there waiting to give his statement. However, his steps suddenly halted, and he changed direction towards his own office instead.

Thup was in the chief’s office in the station, looking around before slumping back into the sofa weakly. He stared at the white ceiling, sighing. If he hadn’t lost the amulet given by the monk, he might not have dreamt of that and seen these things again.

“What should I do?” Thup muttered to himself, but suddenly, he noticed a dark shadow passing by the glass door. His once calm heart raced again. The young man reassured himself it was probably overthinking due to exhaustion from not eating or sleeping for hours. His eyes fixed on the frosted glass door until he saw the figure of a woman gradually become clear outside. Thup hunched over again, thinking if he didn’t look up, he wouldn’t see those frightening things, but then the sound of the doorknob turning made his heart sink, “Please don’t scare me, don’t scare me.”

“Will there ever be a time when I meet you under normal circumstances?” Thup looked up immediately.

“Inspector!”

“Do you remember the taxi driver’s face?” The familiar voice asked.

“Y…Yes.” When Singha got the answer he wanted, he unlocked the handcuffs.

“What are you staring at?” the young policeman asked, noticing the kid in front of him couldn’t take his eyes off the door.

“Nothing.”

“Get up and follow me.”

“Where are we going? You’re not taking me to the cell, are you?”

“And what if I am?” Singha replied irritably, rolling his eyes as the kid hesitated to follow.

“Come on.”

As they neared the interrogation room, Thup suddenly halted, turning to look down the hallway leading to forensics. He saw a girl standing at the end, sobbing. Instead of tears, drops of blood flowed down her cheeks.

“The girl…”

“What about her?”

“I… I see a girl standing there.” Singha looked where the pale finger pointed but saw only emptiness.

“Describe her.”

“She’s young, with long black hair down to her back, wearing a yellow t-shirt and jeans overalls…”

Singha furrowed his brows, then grabbed Thup by the collar, urging him to move.

Just like back then. She said the same thing.

Thinking about it, Singha puffed out his cheeks in frustration. This kid was at the crime scene, he must’ve seen the bodies already. He couldn’t afford to entertain such nonsense.

They reached the observation room, where the interrogation began. Singha had to keep an eye on both the taxi driver and the suspect beside him.

“Is this the guy?” Singha asked.

“Yes.”

“Name?”

“He’s called Danai.”

“What color taxi?”

“Pink.” Singha nodded in acknowledgment, then glanced into the interrogation room about to start.

“Good day, Danai, got the summons?”

“Just a bit.”

“Shall we get started then?”

“Uh… maybe not.” Must have been quite the shock when you got it, or do you want a drink first?

“Alright, let’s begin. Today, we’ve invited you to ask about a passenger who rode in your taxi last night.”

“I’m not sure if I’ll remember.”

“Just whatever you can recall. You drive a pink taxi, a Toyota, license plate number 487, correct?”

“Correct.”

“Your name is Mister Danai, correct?”

“Correct.”

“Last night, from dusk till midnight, a passenger, a man in his mid-twenties to thirties, hailed a taxi in front of a condo for a ride out of town. Remember him?”

“I remember… that young man…” The taxi driver paused for a moment, nodding vigorously before answering.

“Do you recall what he was wearing?”

“Ah, if I’m not mistaken, he was in a white T-shirt, with a gray hoodie. Not sure about the pants, but he was tall, fair-skinned, and quite handsome.”

Thup looked down at himself before turning to Singha with a gleaming eye, probably because the taxi driver’s description matched him perfectly.

“Can you tell me what his demeanor was like before getting into the car, during the ride, and when he arrived at his destination?”

“When he hailed my taxi, he seemed very anxious. During the ride, we didn’t talk much, but I asked him what he was going to do in the middle of the forest at this late hour. The young man replied that he thought something bad might happen.”

“And then what happened next?”

“While driving, the road was deserted, and the atmosphere was very quiet. So, I turned on some music and we didn’t talk much. After a while, the kid suddenly told me to stop the car. After paying, he asked me to wait, then he walked straight into the forest.”

“Did he take anything with him, or was anyone with him?”

“It looked like he went empty-handed, and no one was with him, but…”

“But what?”

“But… Some of my taxi driver friends have told stories about people encountering something strange around there often. I’m scared of ghosts myself; I only stopped for a moment before I felt eerie and drove off.”

“Where did you go after that?”

“I parked at a store about two kilometers away because I wasn’t sure if I should wait for him.”

“About those stories, can you tell me what they are about?”

“Well, around there, they say people have seen an old woman, or sometimes a young woman, standing in the forest by the road. She wears a blue blouse, a sarong with green floral patterns, and carries a lantern. They say if you drive by half-asleep, you might see her crossing the road. If you stop, bad luck often follows, leading to accidents. Now, no one stops there anymore.”

“A ghost?”

“They say it’s a local deity or a forest spirit.” The taxi driver explained, excitedly rubbing his arms.

Singha sighed before turning to look at the young man standing beside him.

“I’m not lying, really.” Thup said.

“I haven’t even asked.”

“… “

“I don’t know how to convince you, Inspector, but I really didn’t kill anyone. I told you, it was a ghost.”

“Ghosts don’t use wire to kill people or sew their eyes and mouth shut, so keep your ghost story to yourself.”

Looks like this case won’t be straightforward.

  

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