Page 94 - Majalah Tahunan MEHSSA Edisi Ke-2

“Three blocks away, ah? Maria resided just opposite her? Did Sophie and Maria know each
other before?”

“I doubt that, sir. Both of them come from different orphanage homes. The neighbours too,
never once saw both of them together. Even their parents have no idea about each other”.

A silent pause invaded the atmosphere.

“Maybe it was really a doing of the Satan, sir. No signs of suicide and mortal murders”,
James added.

Listened to what James confessed moments ago, I was in a state of conundrum. “Would it
really be the doing of the Satan? Then, what about the code numbers?”, I thought to myself.
The indecipherable code numbers in the mansion kept flickering in my mind again and

again incessantly. I tried breaking the code yet, even after much time, they seemed
undecodable. Suddenly, as if my lucks were charmed, something popped into my head. I
compared those code numbers alphabetically. My heart sank in paranoia upon glimpsing
the result.

“James, it was a pre-planned murder! I just found out what the code numbers on the walls
mean. They were a hint left to us about the next target. When I compared those numbers
with alphabets, I came to know that 14 5 24 20 simply meant N E X T. If we separate the

vertical line from “S” in the “$” symbol, it revealed the word IS. Then comes the Cancer
symbol. For Maria, it was a Virgo. Now, a Cancer. When looking them as a whole, I feel that
the next target is someone with Cancer. Ghosts don’t leave hints like murderers, do they?”.

“Oh my God! Sir, this murderer seems more dangerous than we expected. He used the

haunted mansion as a bait to mask himself off”.

“That’s right. Whoever this murderer is, he’s not an ordinary murderer. Looking at the way
he killed both Sophie and Maria and the hints he deliberately left on the wall, I guess he’s a

psychopath”.

“Psychopath? How are you so sure, sir?”

“Have you ever heard of Zodiac, one of the deadliest psychos of 1970’s?”

“Yes, sir”.

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