Chapter 16: Section 15: Doubts
News from the police station came swiftly, and by the next morning, Malin and Colin were seated together in a carriage bound for the station.
The woe-begone and tragic female spirit's surname was Mischael, Camilla Ivan Mischael, a lady from the Northern District who had gone missing three months prior. The police force, private detectives, and even the noble's private army had searched for her for three months.
In the public's mind, a noble lady was a pawn of considerable value, who, if looked after carefully, could amass a substantial fortune—not to mention a full pot—of course, this was predicated on having a life to earn and a life to spend.
Yet no one had anticipated that this lady would die in an unknown corner and ultimately become an insubstantial ghost, to be purified on the spot by a fresh and fiery Apprentice from The Temple.
Mr. Mischael had been waiting at the police station for the arrival of Malin and Colin's duo. He must have seen the portrait of his wife the day before and, while astonished at the detail of the sketch, had also questioned Malin's identity. However, upon hearing that this person was an Apprentice of an old instructor from The Temple of the Goddess of Harvest, the nobleman's last bit of dignity turned to ashes in a moment, transforming from a proud noble to a wretched widower.
"What a pitiable fellow," Colin shook his head and sighed to Malin, "Lord Mischael is a fellow believer of ours, he has always been searching for his love, and nobody expected her to die so inexplicably."
"I don't feel sorry for him, his wife nearly killed me and my sister," Malin was devoid of much remorse—saying 'I'm sorry for your ordeal' was a kindness, but commonsense dictated to stay as far away from such a scourge as possible.
The old saying, 'Respect them, but keep your distance,' made perfect sense in this context.
"...Indeed, you really don't need to pity him." After Colin had said this, he walked over with a smile, reached out to shake hands with the person in charge of the police station, and then approached the gentleman with a clear understanding, "Good afternoon, my lord, I am sorry to hear of your wife's plight."
"Mr. Colin from The Temple, please do help me find my wife's remains." Lord Mischael evidently wanted to locate his wife, despite the fact that it was no longer possible to find her unscathed.
"I understand your sense of urgency, sir, but according to the situation you have described, we are unable to find your wife's remains, and at this point, we can't even confirm a general direction," Colin said, knowing fully well he couldn't spout nonsense in front of a victim's husband—finding them or not wasn't something one could simply talk their way through.