THE ARMAGGEDON: MAN EAT MAN

CHAPTER XIX

“These two verses, what do they have in common?” asked Detective Jean.

“They talk nothing about any of the dead bodies or how they died but, of a fallen Babylon and Immoral kings,” David said.

“Maybe not dad; they do talk about how the victims died.”

“What are you saying son?”

“He means, the victims’ death had something to do with this dying Babylon and the immoral Kings if I am not wrong,” said Jean.

“Exactly my point; what if these codes were not just written there by the killer? What if someone else is trying to reach out to us with a message on how to put an end to the murders?” said Jonas.

“What is that supposed to mean?” asked Detective John.

“He thinks there is a higher power that is helping us get this killer?” said Detective Jean.

“No Detective. Not trying to let us find the killer… far from it. This has nothing to do with this killer. If I were to say, the dead bodies are someone else’s, just to throw us off something huge happening. The revelation talks about the Armageddon, right. This is the end of the world. Remember that in the Bible, God promised Noah; He would never end the world with calamities again but we shall be the cause of our own doom, leading to death or total destruction. In this case… the apocalypse,” Jonas explained.

“This is getting better and better. Continue talking. I think it makes some sense,” said Detective Jean.

“The other numbers we could not decode, where were they?” asked Jonas.

“20.8.9.19:9.19:20.8.5:5.14.4.” David read them to him.

“Someone give me a pen. These numbers are not just numbers but letters with a message to us. These are letters in numeric form. Why else would someone write with the colons and the periods? In music, the colons and the periods are supposed to mean some sort of breaks. I think we should treat them this way and see what comes out,” said Jonas looking for a good position to place the piece of paper to write on.

After a while, he did decipher the code indeed. The numbers were letters as he thought and in them was a message. After deciphering them, he read it to them.

“As I told you, these were no numbers. This is what came out after I deciphered the numbers. ‘This is the end’. Unless this is another dream, no killer would go through the trouble of writing all these on a dead body.”

“Of course you were right. How could we not see this? It does make sense but now, the big question is, what is it all about then?” questioned Detective Jean.

“This is the part I say that… (Detective Jean cut him short)”

“…You have done your work and we are the detectives.” Jean completed.

“I think I like you detective. If only you did not have your cuffs on me, I would have liked you better. I now see why you were in my dreams,” said Jonas.

John turned to Jonas and looked at Jean from head to toe, “Of course we all do…” said the Detective wearing a smile.

“Slowly… young man; I am still a detective. The fact that you have cracked this does not mean I will just let you go,” cautioned Detective Jean.

“I know you won’t detective. You need me to decipher these codes for you.”

“Back to work young man before I lose my cool. Now that we have this new information, I think we should go back to the precinct and think this through again with that in mind,” advised Detective Jean.

It was time for the detectives to go back to the drawing board and find out why the bodies had these puzzles. They also needed reasons why they were scribed on the bodies. As they organized themselves, Detective John’s phone rang. He excused himself to go pick it up. The officers took the body as the others started leaving the scene.

“Hello, Detective. I hear that we have new friends working the murder cases?” the strange voice on the phone said.

“Yes. It seems so and there have been developments that we did not expect,” Detective John answered.

“What kind of developments detective? The only development we have is disobedience of orders. I thought we were very clear that nothing funny. What is this I hear about puzzles on bodies?”

“And I assure you I made sure that did not happen. I also made a follow-up after our last incident and found out that it was not any of our assets doing this.”

“How then is this happening and who could be doing this detective?”

“Just give me time to follow. I will get to the root of the matter as long as my cover remains and have Jean and her friend’s trust. They know nothing.”

“You better do detective. The Clairvoyant does not want anything less. He also told me to remind you of your cause and the price of failure.”

“I know sir but I have a request.”

“What is it, detective? You know the Clairvoyant does not like when we ask him for favors.”

“I know but this is for us all. From what I have seen today, Jean in support of her newly formed team are becoming smart and I cannot throw them off without your help.”

“What is in your mind Detective?”

“I was thinking we give them what they want. They will be on our backs soon and we need to avoid this early.”

“Okay Detective. I will pass this to the Clairvoyant. Meanwhile, be a good soldier.”

“Of course sir; it is for the better good of all citizens and for the course.”

Clairvoyant terminated the call and, Detective John headed back to the car. He joined the others so that they could go to the precinct to solve the riddle they just unveiled. On arrival at the car, Detective Jean was nosey to know the content of the call. She therefore asked him. Bearing in mind the contents of that conversation between John and the mysterious voice, he definitely had to lie about the call.

“Is everything okay there partner? The call took longer than I expected. I hope there is no trouble at home,” asked Detective Jean.

“Yes and no. Everything is fine detective. No problem at home. It was just one of my friends letting me know that he had succeeded in securing a job I was helping him find.”

“Okay detective but next time… just know we are partners for a reason and that I can help. Stop keeping secrets from me John. I am your family at the precinct. We take care of each other, remember?”

“Of course I do Jean but I just had to do this alone. After all, it was not that difficult.”

“Okay. Let’s go back home now.”

The detective drove the car and to the precinct, they went. Back at the crime scene, the officers secured it from the public and took the body to the morgue. As the car drove off, John peeked at our friends watching across the street but they had already left.