Manhattan Reborn 1978

North of New York City, upstream of the Hudson River, adjacent to the westernmost part of Connecticut, the suburb of Newburgh.

Because the city of Newburgh is close to the Hudson River, which is rich in water resources, there is a Beacon Mountain with an altitude of more than 900 meters on the east bank of the river, and the terrain on the west bank of the river is relatively flat, most people living in the city choose to live on the west bank where the business foundation is more sound.

. . .

At noon~

On the east shore, on the east side of Beacon Mountain, near the lake in Putnam Valley.

The cool breeze of early spring blows across the quiet lake, creating ripples.

Deep in the tender green woods with new buds sprouting by the lake, two adjacent luxury holiday villas are located on a gentle slope.

But at this moment, they were emitting thick smoke and had been burned into charred ruins by the fire.

After putting out the last two fires, a group of firefighters carefully checked the ruins to see if there were any hidden fires.

The fire captain stood in front of the villa with his hands on his hips. He wiped the black ash that had accidentally rubbed off on his face with his hand, slowly shook his head and sighed, and teased the sheriff beside him.

"Last Easter, you and I were on duty at the same time, and there was also a major fire."

"If you are on duty today next Easter, you must tell me in advance!"

"..." The burly, bearded, middle-aged sheriff rolled his eyes at his old friend speechlessly, stared at his two men who were carefully checking the ruins, and spoke in a very low voice.

"A few years ago, this place was bought by a nouveau riche from New York, and no one lived here for a long time."

"Last summer, someone saw the nouveau riche bringing a group of workers to renovate the house, and they moved in after the work was completed in the fall."

"Oh? This is a good thing!"

"Do you know his name? I'll send him the bill when I get back."

"He's...dead." The sheriff glanced at his old friend and wiped the smile off his face with just two words.

"Dead? FXXX!"

"When did he die?"

"Is there no one in charge here?"

"Then won't our efforts be in vain?"

"Asshole, today is Easter!"

"It was all in vain. How can I explain it to myself when I get back?!"

"..."

The sheriff tilted his head and looked at the old friend of the "grumbler". After thinking for a moment, he motioned to him, "Follow me."

"where to?"

"..."

"SHXX!" The fire captain saw his old friend turn around and leave silently. Although he didn't know what he was going to do, he still followed him honestly.

. . .

A few minutes later, at the lakeside a few dozen meters away from the villa.

The sheriff took out a handkerchief and covered his mouth and nose. He turned back to look at his old friend and motioned to him, "Don't you want to know who the bill should be sent to?"

"There he is, you can see for yourself."

"..Huh?!" The fire captain walked out of the woods with one foot deep and one foot shallow. Following his old friend's gesture, he looked towards the lake. His expression instantly turned extremely ugly. He covered his mouth and turned his head back, trying to calm the churning feeling in his stomach.

At this time ~

At the lakeside that the fire chief didn't want to look at anymore, there was a naked man with several thick branches piercing his body, firmly fixed in the mud next to a rock on the shore, his body in a very twisted posture, as if he was kneeling in atonement towards the lake.

The sheriff, as if he had anticipated such a reaction from his old friend, turned his head and glanced at the "hellish" scene not far away. His gaze finally fell on the calm lake and he said in a muffled voice.

"While you were fighting the fire, I led people to check the surrounding area carefully."

"The perpetrator was very careful when committing the crime. He did not leave any useful clues on the path, not even a complete footprint."

"But we can be sure that this place by the lake is not the first crime scene, and this victim is not the only one."

"He deliberately dragged the victim to the lake and tortured him to death. He must have had other purposes."

After listening to his old friend's analysis, the fire chief nodded slightly and said, "You think the murderer deliberately set the fire and dragged him to the lakeside and put him in such a weird posture... to attract our attention?"

"Maybe..."

He stared at the calm lake and asked in a soft voice.

"When was the last time you came to this lake?"

"It's been about ten years, I can't remember..." The fire captain put his hands on his hips, looked around, shook his head and sighed.

"But I will never swim in this lake again in my life."

"..." The sheriff crossed his arms and frowned, his eyes seemed to penetrate the calm surface of the lake and see the secrets hidden at the bottom of the lake.

. . .

After a while.

The intercom hanging on the sheriff's waist suddenly rang: "Boss, we found a secret passage, you'd better come and take a look!"

"Ah."

The sheriff kicked his dazed friend, and the two returned along the same route. Under the guidance of a police officer, they walked into the ruins and soon saw the secret passage he mentioned.

"Do you want to go in and take a look together?" the sheriff asked his old friend.

"Um... okay!" The fire captain looked back at his team members, and seeing that they all had curious expressions eager to try, he grinned and nodded.

"Let's go, follow me~" The sheriff also noticed the thoughts of several young firefighters. He asked his men for a flashlight, took out his gun, and walked into the secret passage first.

. . .

This secret passage is about two and a half meters high and nearly two meters wide.

Every few steps, you can see tree stumps and load-bearing columns on both sides. The soil on the ground is moist and feels soft when you step on it.

The sheriff, holding a gun in his hand, walked cautiously in front of the crowd. He first walked down the secret passage for about ten meters, and then walked up for about twenty meters. Suddenly, he felt that the view in front of him was opened up, and he saw a large stone hall.

The area of ​​this hall is about 200 square meters. There are more than a dozen thick stone pillars inside supporting the arched roof, and the ceiling is also paved with uneven gray stone slabs.

A burning lamp hangs on each stone pillar, and the flickering flames make the whole hall look "stained" with a strange and gloomy atmosphere.

And when everyone gathered behind the sheriff and saw the scene in the center of the hall, which was like hell on earth, with several corpses lying all around, they couldn't help but take a deep breath, their eyes widened, and they were speechless for a long time.

"FXXX!" The fire captain felt that he would definitely have a nightmare when he went back tonight. He kept swearing and turned around to pull the young firefighters who were also shocked, and shouted loudly.

"You two are not needed here anymore, get out!"

"roll!"

"..."

Some of the young firefighters stared silently at the center of the hall, then turned away, while others were dragged away by their companions with terrified looks on their faces as if they had been "pressed".

After the young men left, the sheriff turned around and looked deeply at his silent old friend, nodded slightly to him to express his gratitude, and tried to ask in a low voice.

"You know I have a bad heart..."

"Can you go in for me and take out those things scattered on the ground for me to see?"

"What? What are you looking at?"

"You can't handle this case. Let's all go out and call FB to take over!" The fire chief was very clear-headed and decisively rejected his old friend's suggestion.

The sheriff knew that his friend was doing this for his own good. He nodded silently and thought for a few seconds. Then he turned to the police officer beside him and said, "Go report to the police station immediately and ask them to send someone to help seal off the scene as soon as possible. Then contact the FBI to send someone to take over."

"Remember, you must make the key points of the case clear~"

"Tell them that this is most likely a secret place where some evil religious ceremony is held. We didn't enter here rashly in order not to destroy the scene."

"besides!"

"Go out and tell them everything you saw here, and don't tell them anything when you go back!"

"Okay!" After receiving the order, the police officer turned on the safety of his pistol, took another look at the girl who was hanging with her arms in the center of the hall and died tragically, then walked away with a very pale face.

After the police officer left, the fire chief looked around the hall and suddenly noticed something slightly reflective on the ground at the base of a stone pillar.

"There... do you see it?" the fire chief said, pointing out his discovery to his old friend.

"Yeah, I just saw it."

"That should be... a photo or something like that."

"photo?"

"Hey~ what are you doing?"

"FXXX! You just said you wouldn't go in!"

As if he hadn't heard his old friend's call, the sheriff strode from the wall to the location of the photos, put his handkerchief on his hand, gently picked up the scattered photos on the ground, and then returned to the entrance of the hall along the same route.

"You...!!" Amid the fire chief's shocked voice, the sheriff held the photo close to the flashlight and saw the horrific and bloody scene in the photo that made people feel uncomfortable with his old friend.

Photos, four in total.

The first photo shows a pregnant blonde girl with naked breasts. Her arms are hung high in the middle of the hall, and the ground beneath her feet is covered with a complex black pattern.

The second and third photos show masked men using scalpels to take babies out of pregnant girls' bellies.

The fourth photo is different from the previous three. It shows several people wearing heavy robes standing in the center of the hall with their hands raised high, as if they are performing some kind of ritual.

This photo also captured some people in black robes hiding beside the dim wall, watching the ceremony silently.

These people in black robes wore masks, and their hands and feet were hidden under the wide black robes, so one could only vaguely see their height, but could not distinguish anything further.

After the sheriff and the other two looked at the four photos, the fire chief smacked his lips and thought for a while, then whispered, "I think the murderer left them for us on purpose..."

"Yeah." The sheriff nodded in agreement, held the photo up to the flashlight again and looked at it carefully, his face gloomy.

"They should have used drugs to control the pregnant girl while she was still alive, and then performed a caesarean section to take out the baby."

"What a bunch of inhuman scum!" The fire chief couldn't help but tremble all over, gritting his teeth and said viciously.

"They all deserve to be killed... Damn it!" The sheriff looked up at the center of the hall with an extremely grim expression, and said with extreme anger in his voice.

----

New York, Queens.

JFK International Airport.

Mr. Gardener carried a suitcase that had passed airport security and walked to the ticket gate to find Audis Parker and take him on the plane.

At this moment, Mr. Parker, who was supposed to enter the ticket gate to board the plane, was standing in the corner chatting with an "old friend".

The "old friend" he considered himself was Ezra Kramer, the head of the New York CIA branch.

With a gloomy face, he took out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it as if no one was around, took a few deep puffs, and asked in a muffled voice.

"You called me here specifically to tell me... the content of your conversation with House?"