GODDESSBLESSYOUFROMDEATH, Case File 22: Yakbrisut

Darin sat among the three young men, all staring at the laptop screen with intense expressions. She still remembered the chilling spine-tingling, numbing feeling when she saw those animal carcasses. Just seeing them, she could tell it wasn’t a natural death. The scattered incense sticks around indicated it wasn’t just once or twice.

“Here’s the abbot’s background.” King placed documents in front of Singha, “Anupab, aged sixty-two, ordained for fifteen years with the monastic name Phra Aum Rom, became the abbot at Santithamarat Temple five years ago.”

“Five years ago?”

“Hmm, according to history, it’s like that.”

“It matches the time frame of the murder incident before that.”

“Before that, he was a wandering monk, in one of the northern provinces.”

“Northern?”

Was there ever a medical treatment history there?

“Yes, it matches the location of the previous incident, right?” King looked at the object, not taking his eyes off it.

“Hmm.”

“But that is a monk.” Darin said with a trembling voice.

“Monks are humans too. Just because they wear yellow robes doesn’t mean they can’t do wrong.” Singha said with a calm face. “Right now, we don’t have evidence linking him to the murder. These clips alone aren’t enough; we need more solid evidence.”

“Uh… Singha, I have something else to tell you.” Darin called Singha with a worried tone, “Before going to the temple, I had a dream, uh… I saw a female ghost, and she kept saying Wednesday, Wednesday, do… Do you think I might die? Will I end up like the previous seven victims?”

Singha gently rubbed Darin’s head to calm him down. He knew how scared his friend was of ghosts, and he couldn’t assure her nothing would happen because even he didn’t know what exactly was going on.

“For now, don’t go anywhere alone. Either stay with me or Say for the time being. Meanwhile, I’ll have someone spy at the temple, Say will check the soil from the doll properly, and King, have you checked the CCTV yet?”

“It’s done. I’ll write up a report, but what’s clear is that out of six or seven people who went in at different times, none came out, except for Meen. It’s pretty clear it’s the work of someone from the temple.”

“Keep tracking where Meen’s car went. As for the doll, the ghost stuff, and other matters, I’ll handle it myself.”

“Singha.” King interjected with a flat expression.

“I need to visit the next victim’s house. Darin, take care of the kid in the infirmary.”

“B…but isn’t that kid also marked by the ghost?” Darin clung to Say’s arm despite being shaken off repeatedly.

“Thup said that kid mentioned Tuesday.”

“See?!?

“If these ghosts keep causing trouble, our investigation won’t get far.” Say complained before leaning back on the sofa, “I don’t know much about this, I’ll ask Thup later.”

“I have an idea!!” Darin shouted as she stood up, walked to her bag, and placed it heavily on the table. The loud thud made everyone look at each other, “Buddha statues! Amulets! Holy threads, holy water! Charms! I’ve brought everything!”

Darin took everything out and set them down before sighing in relief. She had brought everything from home to ward off ghosts and unseen entities. She wasn’t sure if they would work, but it was better than nothing, at least for peace of mind.

“Phii Singha.” a voice called from inside the room, drawing the attention of Singha and King.

“Told you to rest.”

“I can’t sleep.” Thup walked out and sat next to the older guy, looking curiously at the items on the table, “What are these?”

“Hey, kid Thup, these are my sacred amulets. Check quickly if they’ll work.” Darin pointed excitedly at the items she had worshiped many times, hoping they would be effective.

“I can’t tell, Phii Darin.”

“Oh?”

“Otherwise, would I still be getting haunted like this?” Thup said, shrugging slightly, which made Singha chuckle softly.

Singha stood up to his full height, gently ruffling Thup’s soft hair before walking into the inner room where a twenty-four-year-old man lay still on a bed by the window after receiving treatment. One of his wrists was handcuffed to the bed, and beside the bed, two people sat sleeping, unable to go home yet.

“Where’s the lieutenant?” Singha picked up his phone to call his trusted subordinate immediately.

[He’s out front, inspector, contacting the relatives of the kid named Jump.]

   “Have you reached them?”

[We’ve made contact. They’re in Satun and will return tomorrow.]

   “Hmm, okay, inform me when they arrive.”

[Understood, uh, and what about the other two kids, inspector?]

   “I’ll ask first.”

[Yes, inspector, and there’s one more thing, about Lieutenant Moo and Lieutenant EM today.]

   “Why?”

[Lieutenant Moo had an accident with his bike and is in the hospital. I don’t know what’s with the station these days, there’s always something going on. As for Lieutenant EM, he’s sick, but now he’s not…]

   Singha ran his fingers through his shiny black hair in frustration. If this were before, he would’ve dismissed it as normal or called it nonsense. But now, was he sure it was still normal?

“Tell everyone to be careful for now.”

[Acknowledged.]

   Singha hung up and walked over to check on the person lying on the bed, glancing at both Bom and Dear. These kids received an email from someone, and what did the sender want by revealing the case details and crime scene to outsiders, when it should’ve been kept quiet? The young inspector walked back to the reception room, where Say and Darin were no longer present. Only King and Thup remained.

“Thup, get up, I’m taking you home.”

“Huh?” the older man didn’t repeat himself. He just walked towards the door, but before he could reach it, his wrist was grabbed.

“Let’s talk first.” King said in a flat tone, “Just the two of us.”

“Even if it’s just the two of us.” Despite the non-threatening tone, the words carried the same weight.

“I’ll wait outside.” Thup stood up, ready to leave so as not to inconvenience them.

“No need.” The older man’s voice halted his long legs, “Say what you have to say. I need to go to work.”

“There’s nothing now.” King sighed, releasing his grip from the person in front of him, “But there will be tonight. I’ll send you the location. If you don’t show up, expect a call from the police commander.”

King walked past Singha, bumping into Thup’s shoulder with displeasure.

“Damn it.” Singha muttered, pressing his tongue against his cheek in irritation.

“Phii.” Thup came up, holding onto the back hem of the older man’s shirt. He heard everything from earlier… tonight… They will meet tonight.

“Let’s go, I’ll drop you home first.”

“Let me go with you, let me go with you, Phii.”

“Are you still going even with that injury?”

“I don’t want you to go alone. At least, I might be able to warn you about something. Please, let me come with you.” Singha turned to look at the young man behind him, who was looking at him with hopeful eyes. Seeing the bruise on his neck, he sighed resignedly.

“Fine, come along, but don’t go wandering off alone again. I won’t care then.” otherwise, if a ghost drags you off, I won’t.

“Yes, sir!” Thup smiled broadly before clinging to the older man’s arm, heading towards the car.

The two headed towards Orn’s next home, because according to King’s investigation at the house where Orn last stayed with a friend, nothing was found. Moreover, the friend Orn stayed with before disappearing said that Orn had gone back home. Because of that, the doll must be at the house.

The luxury car stopped in front of a silver iron fence. Inside was a single-story house of medium size but with ample space around it. As Singha and Thup stepped out of the car, two black and white dogs ran out from the house, barking ferociously at them before starting to howl.

“I… I don’t see anything.” Thup said anxiously because he couldn’t see any ghosts or spirits here. He had no idea what the two dogs were seeing.

“Shh, shh, Samlee, Sinil, stop barking.” a woman in her forties walked out and shooed the dogs back to the house, “Sorry about that, those two don’t like strangers. Who are you looking for?”

“I’m a police officer. We have some matters to investigate and questions about Orn’s case. Here’s the search warrant.” She looked saddened before opening the gate for Singha and Thup.

“Sorry about the hospitality, my husband isn’t here today, so I can’t welcome you properly.”

“It’s okay.”

“My daughter, sob, how is she? When, sob, when can we bring her body back?”

“The autopsy is now complete. We will return the body for the ceremony again.” Singha said with a calmer tone than ever before, “Which room is Orn’s?”

“Over there.” she pointed to the room at the very end of the hallway, “I… haven’t been able to accept it yet, so nothing has been moved.”

“May I go in then?”

“Please, go ahead.”

Singha opened the door to the inside, with Thup following not far behind. Here. There wasn’t anything particularly special, just an ordinary bedroom with everything in place. Singha walked around inspecting; his face was expressionless, unlike Thup who still stood in the same spot.

“All these things are still in their original places, right? No one has moved anything, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Then why is this here?” Singha pointed to a notebook, placed on the bed where it shouldn’t be.

“It wasn’t there at first. I just brought some water to set in the room. At that time, it wasn’t there yet.”

Singha looked up at Thup, before putting on gloves and picking it up. Inside, there were only red pen marks, not forming any letters, just random scribbles. Thup stepped beside the older man and whispered softly into his ear:

“I don’t see any ghosts at all.”

“So?”

“That means the doll isn’t here.” Thup shook his head to confirm and looked around the room again.

“I’d like to take this notebook with me.” Singha turned to speak to Orn’s mother, who was standing at the doorway, tears streaming down her face. She nodded slowly.

“Is there a shrine here?” Thup asked in a softer tone. Losing a child was painful enough. Adding more distressing news wouldn’t be good.

“Ye… yes, there is one next door.”

“May I go take a look?” Upon receiving permission, Thup immediately walked to the neighboring house.

A clean white spirit house was located in the northeast corner relative to the house, free from any shadows. The shrine was elevated one cubit above the ground, with a small roof, figures of men and women, horse and elephant figurines, and a dancer, all set with flowers and various offerings. Thup raised his hands in a wai before peering inside the shrine.

“With a spirit house like this, that ghost surely can’t enter.” Thup looked outside the fence until he spotted a lone large tree. The treetop, with sparse leaves, had branches that seemed eerie as they pointed here and there. The trunk was withered. Thup’s eyes widened when a dark shadow appeared from behind the tree.

White eyes stared back at Thup with displeasure, the once wide-smiling lips now firmly closed. At her bare feet lay a doll, its head broken off and separated.

“Thup.” Singha called out immediately when he saw the boy he came with standing still, staring at one spot for a long time as if seeing something.

“The doll… it’s over there.” Thup pointed at the large tree. Singha followed his finger and saw it.

“Wait here.” Singha walked out from the fence with Thup’s eyes following him closely.

Singha walked the path until he reached the large, withered tree. He bent down to pick up both the body and the head of the doll.

   A gentle breeze blew past him, leaves fluttering past his eyes. Once they passed, he saw Thup watching him with concern. How long had it been since he last saw such a look? Singha looked down at the broken doll in his hand once more.

   The body of a human, the head of a buffalo, named Yakbrisut, Mae Sue for Tuesday.

  

GODDESSBLESSYOUFROMDEATH CHAPTERS HOME