American Horror Story, Starting from Falls Town

Chapter 326 Bizarre Case
Seattle is located on the northwestern Pacific coast of Washington state and is the largest city in Washington state.

Many high-tech companies are located in this city, which also boasts excellent environmental conditions and is the 18th largest city in the United States.

However, Roy arrived in Seattle at three or four in the morning, so he couldn't see much scenery.

Of course, Roy and his group's ultimate destination was not Seattle, but a small town called Ravensfield in eastern Washington state, nestled at the foot of the Rocky Mountains.

Because the four witches from the Apocalypse Society had played too much on the plane, they were all now in a coma. It took Roy and Jennifer quite a while to help them get dressed and put them in the car.

Fortunately, the crew and passenger areas of this private jet are separate and independent of each other, and the soundproofing is excellent.

Otherwise, with such a big commotion at the silver party, the staff would have noticed it long ago.

Given their current situation, it was impossible for them to continue their journey. Roy could only find a hotel near the airport to stay in. Although the hotel staff also thought Roy and his group were acting strangely, some even considered calling the police.

Roy had to pull out his FEA badge to prove his identity as an agent in order to get through the night safely.

After doing all that, Roy lay down on the sofa in a relaxed, reclining position, he was just too tired.

The main reason was that I fought a high-intensity underwater battle with the female demon yesterday during the day, which consumed a lot of my energy. So, I was actually fine when I traveled a thousand miles a day at night.

Jennifer was also very tired; she was now lying on the sofa, nestled in Roy's arms.

"If I had known, I would have brought Nidi along instead of the other four."

At this point, Jennifer also realized her mistake. The four witches of the Apocalypse Society had indeed grown, but in some aspects they did not seem to have changed much.

Jennifer had actually invited Nydy, but the homebody had recently become obsessed with a new game and stayed home playing it, so she didn't participate.

"If we don't let them come, it will be even more troublesome if they come secretly."

These four members of the Apocalypse Society are no pushovers, especially the duo of Madison and Maria.

Madison was daring and would do anything.

Maria has a penchant for giving bad ideas and often comes up with outrageous schemes to urge Madison to do.

Although Zoe may seem like a well-behaved girl, she actually has a wild side, but she doesn't usually show it.

So whenever Madison and Maria were up to something, Zoe would always half-heartedly acquiesce to their actions.

In the end, Carrie was actually the only well-behaved member of the Apocalypse Society.

However, Carrie is a very passive girl; she won't do anything unless you tell her to.

Carrie won't intervene unless you tell her to stop the other girls from the Apocalypse Society from participating in Jennifer's operation.

But it's hard to guarantee that this girl won't be persuaded by Madison and Maria, as those two always manage to come up with some twisted logic, and Carrie is also easily influenced.

I glanced at the time; it was already 4 a.m.

"Jennifer, go to sleep early."

The four witches had already taken their spots on the bed, so Roy and Jennifer had to make do on the sofa.

However, Jennifer seemed to like it this way because the sofa was narrow, so she could squeeze in with Roy.

Breathing in Roy's scent made Jennifer feel good.

"Ok!"

Jennifer closed her eyes, resting her head on Roy's firm chest. The strong, powerful heartbeat felt like ASMR, quickly lulling her to sleep.

Roy drifted off to sleep, enjoying the scent of Jennifer's hair.

Around noon, everyone gradually woke up.

The four witches looked refreshed, and their chatter woke Roy and Jennifer.

The six of them ate something casually at the hotel and then officially headed to Ravensfield.

The vehicles are Transformers; the five girls ride Bumblebee, while Roy rides Claudia.

Since Google Maps didn't exist back then, and Ravensfield was a rather remote town, the maps available online only showed its approximate location, so Roy and his friends had to find it as they walked.

America has many such small towns, which, as urbanization accelerates, will eventually be abandoned and become natural haunted house adventure locations.

As dusk fell, Roy and his group passed through a small town. The six of them discussed it and decided to have dinner and ask around about Ravensfield's location.

"Ravensfield? I don't think I've ever heard of such a place. Is it some rural area? Maybe you should check with the police."

As a result, Roy asked several waiters in the restaurant, and they all said they had never heard of Ravensfield. Some even suggested that Roy go to the police station to ask.

“Roy, I think this is actually a good idea. If the online maps are correct, Ravensfield is indeed near this city, so the police station should have someone who knows how to get there.”

While America doesn't usually go to the police for help, Roy, with his official identification, is unlikely to need their assistance.

"Let's finish dinner first and then go to the police station to ask."

This city is about the same size as New Centoria, Maine, with an estimated population of only a few hundred thousand, so the police station is also small.

When Roy entered the police station with five beautiful women, he attracted the attention of many police officers.

Roy went straight to the front desk and showed his identification.

“I’m FEA agent Roy Black. I’m investigating a case and need to go to Ravensfield. I was wondering if anyone in your department knows this place.”

The receptionist swooned at the sight of Roy's face, while Jennifer coughed several times before snapping out of her daze.

“Ravensfield, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of this town! Wait a minute, could I see your identification?”

Roy handed his ID to the receptionist, who glanced at it but didn't seem to recognize the FEA department. She quickly made a phone call to confirm.

After a while, a middle-aged man came out from inside.

Where are the FEA agents?

"I am."

The middle-aged man looked at Roy with a surprised expression.

Perhaps it's because Roy looks young and handsome, more like a movie star than an agent.

It wasn't until he saw Roy's identification that the middle-aged man confirmed he was indeed an FEA agent.

"Hello, I'm Sheriff Hoffman."

"Roy Black."

Sheriff Hoffman shook hands with Roy, but he seemed to realize something very quickly.

"Wait, you look familiar, you wouldn't happen to be..."

Roy quickly made a silencing gesture. "Let's find a quiet place to talk!"

"Come to my office, it's quiet there!"

With a broad smile, Hoffman led Roy and the five girls into his office. After closing the office door, he immediately took out a notebook.

"Mr. Black, could you please sign your autograph?"

It seems that Hoffman is also a boxing fan.

This is not surprising, as boxing is the fourth most popular sport in America, especially among middle-aged white men, and Hoffman happens to be one of them.

Hoffman was very excited after getting the autograph and began to talk at length to Roy about his performance at the Olympics.

This made Roy regret not wearing Nydy's black-rimmed glasses to the police station, because if he wore them, his FEA ID wouldn't be valid.

The ID card has Roy's photo on it, and if he wore black-rimmed glasses, no one would recognize him.

"Ahem! Inspector Hoffman, let's get down to business!"

Hoffman then remembered that Roy had come to see him about something, but it seemed that he had another misunderstanding.

"Oh, yes! The case is more important. I just didn't expect Mr. Blake to be an FEA agent. You guys are quick on the move; I only reported the case tonight, and you're already here. Are these young ladies also FEA agents?"

Hoffman looked at the five beautiful women with curiosity.

The four members of the Apocalypse Society looked exactly like students; they hardly resembled agents from a violent law enforcement agency.

Jennifer's shrewd and capable demeanor does seem somewhat fitting, but the problem remains: Jennifer's face looks too young, and she doesn't resemble an agent.

Hoffman's words left Roy completely bewildered.

"What case are you talking about?"

"Oh? Didn't you come here for this case?"

"I don't know anything about the case. I'm here to ask about the exact location of the town of Ravensfield."

Hoffman then realized he had made a huge blunder.

Here's what happened: a bizarre murder occurred in town one night, so Sheriff Hoffman reported the case to the FEA.

So when the receptionist called Hoffman, he didn't listen carefully to what the other person was saying; he just ran out as soon as he heard the word FEA.

"Sorry, sorry! This is my fault!"

Upon hearing this, Madison, who was behind him, became somewhat curious.

"Could you tell me what exactly this bizarre case is?"

"Of course, no problem! That night, a young man reported that his wife had been murdered in their apartment. When I led the team to the apartment, we saw the victim sitting on the bed covered in injuries, her mouth wide open, but her tongue was missing."

Our initial investigation revealed signs of a struggle in the apartment, but no signs of forced entry. We suspected the young man who called the police had murdered his wife, but he later had an alibi. At the time of her death, the young man was buying flowers at a florist; unless he could teleport or create clones, it would be impossible for him to have committed the crime.

I felt this case was too strange, so I decided to submit it to the FEA for review.

It's really strange. There were no signs of forced entry in the house, and the only suspect had a solid alibi.

This kind of case would be considered quite unique even among the Detective Conan series.

But why does the way this person died sound so familiar?

"Could the killer actually be hiding in the apartment, waiting for the young man to discover his wife's body and be shocked before quietly slipping out?"

Maria suddenly raised her hand to express her opinion. She seemed very interested in the murder case, perhaps because she liked detective reasoning or something similar.

“Madam, we certainly considered that possibility, so we examined it carefully. At the time of the incident, it rained in the city, and the suspect left a lot of rainwater at the door when he entered the apartment. Unless the murderer could fly, he would definitely have left footprints, but in fact, there were only the suspect's footprints at the apartment door.”

With modern criminal investigation techniques, it has become increasingly difficult to commit the perfect crime. As long as the police are willing, they can always find some clues.

"The strangest thing is that the suspect insists the case is related to a puppet delivered to their house today, because in his hometown, puppets are symbols of death and bad luck. By the way, the suspect seems to be Ravensfield, what a coincidence!"

Roy and Jennifer exchanged a glance; this was just too much of a coincidence.

"Sheriff Hoffman, can we meet with this suspect?"

Hoffman hesitated noticeably, because Roy was neither an investigator nor a lawyer in this case, and theoretically, he was not allowed to meet with the suspect.

However, since Hoffman was a boxing fan of Roy, he eventually agreed.

"Okay, but there are too many of you. Only two people can meet with the suspect at most."

Roy and Jennifer then followed Hoffman to see the suspect, while the others remained in the lobby to wait.

"Jamie Ashen?"

"It's me. I've said everything I needed to say. I just want some peace and quiet. Why do you have to drag me into this?"

Jamie Ashton was a handsome young man with a very sad expression on his face, seemingly still grieving over his wife's death.

He doesn't seem like the kind of person who would kill his wife to prove his faith, but that might not be the case.

In reality, there are also murderers who kill their loved ones and suffer great inner pain. They love their family members very much, but still choose to kill them.

Hoffman tapped the table.

"Jamie Ashin, you are a criminal suspect until the case is thoroughly investigated, and the police have the right to investigate you at any time."

Once in work mode, Sheriff Hoffman was no longer as easygoing as before; the aura of a veteran detective was quite intimidating.

However, the heartbroken Jamie didn't seem to care about it, and he looked rather sickly.

"Sheriff Hoffman, let me do it."

Roy shifted his chair and sat down opposite Jamie Ashton.

"Mr. Ashin, I heard you're from Ravensfield?"

Upon hearing the name, Jamie Ashin finally looked up, giving Roy a strange look.

"Why do you ask?"

"Actually, I'm an agent from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, investigating a case that requires me to travel to Ravensfield. Could you perhaps provide me with the exact location of Ravensfield?"

Jamie Ashton's face was filled with struggle, as if his hometown of Ravensfield brought back unpleasant memories.

"If I were you, I wouldn't go to that kind of godforsaken place!"

You should all recognize it as "Dead Silence" by now, right?
(End of this chapter)