Keryn and Mick both turned to Kevin and fixed their eyes on him, for right now he was the only one who would have the ability to distinguish whether the captain was lying. Kevin, on the other hand, examined the torn cloth and the stain on it with his eyes narrowed.

“... you took away a curse from him.” Kevin put the cloth down back onto the sofa: “That’s - that’s the only explanation. But with what?”

“Keen observation, Mr. Loo.” Captain Ko chuckled: “I should write another letter to the city and ask for more funding to support your promotion to a forensic scientist.”

“Don’t even - captain.” Kevin raised his hand and rejected with a stern tone: “I’ve been in this business for enough time. I love what I do. Don’t you dare defile that.”

“Alright - alright.” Captain Ko let out a sigh and backed off with his hands raised: “And you’re right. I guess since you and Keryn were right there when we discussed the business with Brooklyn Payne, you know I’m not lying.”

“Brooklyn Payne - the infamous ex-cop PI?” Mick frowned.

“Yes. ” Kevin sighed: “We ran into him when Marcus was running an investigation, I went along as well. He was in a very bad state. And he made a deal with Captain Ko through the pohne. We didn’t know what the deal was about. But I guess we know now.” He then fixed his eyes on Captain Ko: “But then there’s something I don’t understand - how could you help? Marcus did not know how. I tried looking into it and there were no definitive solutions anywhere.”

“It’s very simple, mechanically.” Captain Ko shrugged: “Curses are usually bound to a person’s blood and flesh. So - with the help of some - special rituals, I can just drive the energy of the curse to certain areas, then draw blood, cut off some flesh to get rid of it.”

“Okay.” Kevin nodded, without saying anything else.

“Okay?” Keryn was surprised at Kevin’s attitude at first. But after a short moment of consideration, she sighed and relented: “Okay - I think this - I think this makes sense.”

“Captain. We need your help.” Seeing that both Keryn and Kevin accepted the captain’s explanation, Mick decided to change topics: “Actually - there are two things we need your help with - ”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“Like we said, Tyler Khan brought some men and attacked our precinct. And we have reason to believe that they have planted bugs in our precinct.” Keryn scratched her jaws: “And there’s another thing - Marcus went to the Lanmian Forest to look into something and he hasn’t contacted Kevin since, as per their agreement.”

“And - and I should add, Marcus went there because something Tyler Khan mentioned.” Kevin added: “In fact, it’s pretty evident now that Tyler Khan said those things about the food festival on purpose, in order to test who’s on their tail - ”

“Food festival? So that’s what that’s about.” Captain Ko nodded, then sighed: “But - ”

“Marcus needs our help right now, Captain.” Kevin stepped forward: “Please, we need to send some people to the Lanmian Forest - ”

“Lanmian Forest is under the jurisdiction of the community collective. You know we can’t just send people over.” Captain Ko shook his head: “And we can’t really send people in without raising major alerts.”

“I don’t care! Marcus is in danger right now - ”

“He’ll be fine. He’s Marcus, the Stone Tiger.” Captain Ko cut Kevin off: “Plus, I think he would bring someone along with him. Our off the book consultant from the South-Eastern District, I assume?”

“Yes, but - ” Kevin stammered, not having the energy to parse why the captain would know about Gloria going with Marcus: “He told me when he sorts out everything he would call me. So something must have happened - no, I can’t sit here and wait. I must go to the forest myself - ”

“NO! NO!” Captain Ko blocked Kevin’s way: “You can’t go out right now. At least not until sunrise.”

“What - why?”

“This entire house is some kind of ritualistic building, right captain?” Keryn’s ice cold voice sent chills down Kevin’s spine.

“Yes. And I’m surprised you didn’t tell, Kevin.” Captain Ko shook his head: “You’re concerned. I get it. But if you go out right now, well - I’d say a death would be the more preferable outcome should that ever to happen.”

“What - ” Kevin immediately looked around the interior of the house. The embedded wooden frames, the red threads along the beams, the incense burners in the corners, and the talismans stuck onto some of those wooden frames and beams, all of them were clear indication that the entire house was fashioned into some kind of ritualistic array. “What the hell - what the fuck is this, capatin?”

“That’s not something you need to know.” Captain Ko shook his head: “Just know this - you, and I mean all three of you, cannot leave before sunrise. Or it would be very nasty for all of us. And Detective Lance - ” He fixed his eyes on Keryn: “You start acting Kevin’s girlfriend. My wife would not be happy if I had a single woman spend the night in our house.”

Kevin started stammering: “Sir, this is - ”

“Okay, what else should we know?” Keryn interrupted Kevin.

“I think it’s time that you bring Mick onboard for some of the things we’ve been looking into. He’s more experienced now, but he’s still new.” Captain Ko nodded at Mick: “Young officer, I can imagine you have a ton of questions. And I appreciate your understanding.”

“But - what about Marcus? He needs help!” Kevin raised his voice.

“We can’t do anything right now. If Tyler Khan is really bold enough to attack our precinct, then I’d take it that he would have plenty of connections to powerful people in the city. So - we could only wait here.” Captain Ko sighed: “I will make some calls and see what I can do. Oh, here’s another thing: don’t use your cellphones while in my house before sunrise. It won’t work, and it could be a source of… hazard.”

“Oh - captain?” Mick raised his hand.

“Yes?”

“What if they found us here? If we’re not able to call - ”

“Then we’ll deal with them when they come.”