Chapter # 04: The Second Clue
1108 Words
“Sir… I forgot to mention one thing,” Lucien said while walking.
“He was one of the victims who died last month.”
Halt stopped for a fraction of a second but kept walking.
“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” He asked.
“What was his code name?” he said after a pause.
“Mr. Knight,” Lucien replied and looked down slightly.
The moment the name was spoken, Halt’s expression changed.
“Mr. Knight…” Halt repeated.
For a while, their footsteps felt louder than their words.
Then Halt again spoke.
“So you’re his son… Mr. Fool.”
Lucien didn’t respond.
“Before his death… I worked with him,” Halt said.
“We were on the same investigation.”
His voice lowered slightly.
“The same night he died… we were following a suspect linked to these murders.”
For the first time, a faint drop of emotion broke through but Halt quickly hid it.
“He wasn’t just a detective,” he continued.
“He was one of the very few in the Silent Eyes that could match the head.”
Lucien finally looked up.
“Then… he was close to the truth.”
Halt replied, “He was close enough to die for it.”
“Now let’s go. We’re going to the northern district.” Halt immediately changed the topic.
“You mean we are going to the graveyard of detectives?” Lucien asked.
Halt nodded slightly.
“Yes, there is a way to find the second clue, but it’s not something we can understand from here.”
His gaze shifted forward.
Lucian didn’t respond immediately.
The words didn’t feel like direction- they felt like a conclusion.
The graveyard was silent.
Unlike the rest of Necthera, no voices could be heard. Rows of stone graves stretched across the hill, each belonging to a detective who had died while serving the Silent Eyes.
Cold wind moved through the dead grass.
Lucien stopped before a simple gravestone.
“This is my father’s grave,” Lucien said.
Halt, lower his gaze, and said, “Mr. Knight.”
The name was still clearly visible despite the passing weeks.
Then his eyes moved even lower, and there it was, the symbol. The same symbol was found behind the ancient black stone.
Halt crouched beside the grave stone and started to examine the symbol carefully.
“Whoever had carved it knew exactly what they were doing.”
Halt said.
“Wait Sir, there something beneath the symbol…” Lucien said.
Halt eyes narrowed slightly.
A single word had been carved beneath the symbol.
“Ace.”
After a long pause, Halt finally spoke.
“A clue is not proof.”
His voice was calm.
Controlled.
But the tension in it was clear.
The wind moved through the graveyard again.
And for a moment, it felt like even the dead were listening.
Footsteps broke the silence.
Kael arrived from the city, his coat slightly dusted from travel. His expression was controlled, but there was something sharper in his eyes than usual.
“Report delivered,” he said.
Then he noticed where they were standing.
His gaze moved immediately to the grave.
Halt stepped slightly aside.
“Look,” he said.
Kael walked forward slowly.
His eyes landed on the carving beneath the symbol.
ACE.
He stopped.
“…Ace,” Kael muttered.
A pause followed.
Halt studied him carefully. “Can you use your Shade?” Halt asked suddenly.
“Shade?” Lucien turned slightly.
Kael didn’t look at him yet.
“My Shade only listens to fresh echoes,” Kael said quietly.
Lucien frowned, but Kael continued, still focused on the grave.
“If Mr. Knight had died recently enough, I could’ve heard his last moments.”
“But the echo fades faster than evidence does.”
Halt stood up slowly.
His eyes remained on the grave for a moment longer than necessary.
Then he spoke, “I’m going.”
Kael looked at him, “Where are you going?”
Halt didn’t hesitate, “To the only person who needs know all this.”
Lucien took a step forward instinctively, “I’m coming ”
“No,” Halt cut in immediately.
A pause. Then his voice softened slightly.
“Not yet.”
And without another word, he turned and walked away.
The graveyard remained silent long after he left.
The Silent Eyes headquarters felt different at night. It was not alive. Not dead. Just something in between.
Halt walked through the corridors. Guards stepped aside. They did not ask him any questions.
He reached Head Eren Vires office. He entered without knocking.
Head Eren was already there.
"You came quickly,” Head Eren said.
"We found something," Halt said.
Head Eren's face changed. But a little.
"You know something," Halt said.
Head Eren did not answer, and the silence went on for a long time, and that was enough for Halt.
Head Eren leaned back slowly.
"That symbol…" he said.
It has shown up before Head Eren explained.
Halts eyes narrowed a little. Eren went on.
“It did not happen once,” he said.
“It did not happen twice.”
He looked straight at Halt.
“This happened over decades,” Eren said.
“The symbol is not the clue we are looking for,” he said.
Halt looked confused. “Then what is it?” he asked.
Eren answered immediately.
“It is the people who are connected to the symbol,” he said.
Eren stood up slowly.
“If Ace is involved…”
A pause.
“…then this case is larger than we thought.”
Halt looked directly at him, “Should I arrest him?”
Eren answered immediately.
“No.”
“Why not?” Halt frowned.
“Because we don’t have proof,” Eren’s said, his gazesteady.
“Only patterns.”
A silence followed.
And for the first time, Halt understood something clearly.
This case was not about catching a killer.
It was about uncovering something that had already been buried too deeply to arrest.
Halt left the office alone. The city outside was darker than before. Not in light but in feeling. Every street felt slightly heavier. Like something unseen had shifted its position.
Behind Halt, Eren remained standing in silence for a long time.
Then he moved toward a locked drawer. He opened it slowly. Inside was an old document.
Faded.
Folded.
Preserved.
The same symbol was drawn across it.
Below it, written in aged ink:
THE NAMELESS CAN’T BE FORGOTTEN
Eren stared at it for a long moment.
Then whispered:
“It’s starting… again.”
- Writer
