A few minutes later, the violent noises from inside the door gradually subsided, leaving only the "crackling" sound of burning wood and the faint, "clattering" sound of bones falling apart.
After another moment, everything returned to dead silence.
Police reinforcements finally arrived, armed and on high alert. With several gun barrels aimed at it, the heavy metal door was cautiously opened again.
A dizzyingly thick, sweet, and putrid stench, mixed with the smell of burning, rushed out.
The morgue was in shambles; the autopsy table had been overturned, instruments were scattered everywhere, and the walls and floor were splattered with sticky black stains.
In the center of the room, where Joseph Hawkins had once "resurrected," only a small pile of charred fragments remained, like over-burned dry bones covered in a thin layer of gray-white powder.
The bone chisel lay beside the fragments, its tip stained with black mucus residue that was rapidly drying and carbonizing. The air was filled with an odor reminiscent of sulfur embers.
Holmes carefully used tweezers to collect the fragments and gray-white powder from the floor, placing them into an evidence bag.
Watson, with a grave expression, steadied his breathing while vigilantly scanning his surroundings.
"Joseph's body... after resurrecting, it just... burned itself... up?" Sheriff Marcus walked in, covering his nose and mouth, looking at the pile of ashes in disbelief.
"'Burned' is not quite the right word." Holmes stood up and showed the evidence bag to the sheriff. "More accurately, it... exhausted itself."
"The 'energy' or 'pollution' supporting its activity was depleted. The black mucus substance within its body, upon losing its power source, rapidly dried and carbonized, taking the remaining bodily tissues with it."
"Just like a pile of firewood that leaves only ash and carbon after being fully consumed."
He pointed to the mucus drying on the tip of the bone chisel: "Observe the process of its transformation—from active mucus to inert carbonaceous matter—it's extremely fast."
"God..." Marcus looked at the pile of ashes, his face turning pale. "What kind of monster is this..."
He turned to look at the shaken woman: "Miss, are you alright? What is your relationship with the deceased?"
Supported by Wright, the woman struggled to stand, tears streaming down her face as she choked out, "My name is Catherine Hawkins, and he... he is my brother, Joseph Hawkins... why... why did he become like this?!"
"When I went to the Theological Seminary to see him last week... he was perfectly fine..."
"He was just a bit slow to react... he was very gentle... he couldn't even bear to step on an ant... how could he become a monster... how could he..."
She couldn't continue, her body collapsing again; the immense grief and incomprehensible fear almost crushed her.
Wright steadied her and said to Marcus in a deep voice, "Sheriff, this has already exceeded the scope of a normal criminal case. Joseph Hawkins left behind a riddle before his death, and after his death, his body underwent an inexplicable mutation and attacked the living. The core of all these problems lies in the Clavius Seminary!"
"Miss Catherine is a family member of the victim and an important witness. We must go there to investigate immediately! Otherwise, it's possible that..."
"More people might become like this?"
Marcus finished the sentence for him. His gaze swept over the pile of ashes and the scattered black stains, and recalling the cases of anemia and rapid aging reported by the hospital, a chill ran up his spine.
He scratched his hair in frustration.
"Damn it! Fine. Mr. Wright, and you two 'consultants,' as well as Miss Catherine here, I will sign a temporary authorization for you, allowing you to enter the Clavius Seminary for a 'preliminary visit'."
"Remember, it's a 'visit'! Gather information, don't act rashly, and notify me immediately if you discover anything! I will send a team... to 'patrol' nearby."
"Understood, Sheriff." Wright immediately agreed.
"We need transportation and weapons." Holmes put away the evidence bag, his tone brooking no argument. "And all of Joseph's archival records at the Theological Seminary, especially the details of his activities and a list of people he contacted in the days before he went missing."
Marcus unhooked a set of keys from his waist and threw them to Wright.
"Here are the car keys. My station wagon is out back, and there's an unregistered handgun inside."
He then pointed to the shotgun in Watson's hand.
"And this shotgun, it has now been lost by the police department; there are no more."
"The files... the people in the archives room will cooperate with you. Make it quick!"
He waved his hand as if to dispel this unsettling atmosphere.
Arriving at the archives, Holmes and his group quickly retrieved Joseph's file. The records showed that he was indeed a student diagnosed with mild intellectual disability, and his admission record dated back three years.
Recent records were sparse, only mentioning that he was "withdrawn in personality and often recited the Bible alone."
A panoramic photo of the Theological Seminary caught Holmes's attention: a massive complex of buildings built against a mountain with a distinct Gothic Revival style. Behind the towering spire of the main cathedral, a steep, densely vegetated hillside was vaguely visible.
"Bree Mountain... the terrain is complex."
Holmes whispered, carefully putting the photo away. He also noticed the name of the person in charge of the Theological Seminary: Claire Corinna, noted as the Dean and spiritual counselor.
"Now we need to summarize the information. Once we're inside the Theological Seminary, it will be someone else's turf, so we must be cautious in our words and actions."
Wright said this while scribbling in his notebook.
"Ms. Catherine, we now need to know the details about your brother. This may relate to your personal safety, so please try not to leave anything out, okay?"
Holmes's tone was calm, avoiding further agitation for Catherine.
"O-okay, just call me Catherine." Catherine took a deep breath, trying to calm her agitated emotions.
"My brother was a kind and optimistic person. Although his intelligence tests weren't very good, he never had any history of harming others."
"But my parents were worried that my brother would have a negative influence on me, so they sent him to the Clavius Seminary."
"I didn't agree with their decision, so I often visited him secretly. The last time was last week, and he didn't have any abnormalities at that time."
"In order to cure my brother, I've even been studying medicine, but why... how could this happen..."
Catherine started crying again as she spoke.
She searched through all her belongings and only found a few dollars: "Can you find out why my brother became like this? I... I have 100 dollars here, please... I beg you."
Wright sighed, took the money, and said with a solemn expression, "Don't worry, we've taken this case, and we will definitely find the real culprit."
"Sherlock, do you have any thoughts?" Watson asked.
"Thoughts? Of course, and many." Holmes stood with his hands in his pockets, leaning against the wall.
"When Ms. Catherine visited him last week, he was still at the Theological Seminary and acting quite normal."
"However, his body showed unusual aging, had blunt force trauma and chemical residue, and he had been active in the sewer for a period of time. This indicates that life at the Theological Seminary has undergone tremendous changes within this week."
"His behavior was nothing like someone with an intellectual disability, and people don't resurrect as monsters after death. Therefore, this Joseph might not be Joseph himself, and may not even be a 'human' in the general sense anymore."
"People who commit suicide generally seek relief and choose a quick way to die, yet Joseph chose a painful and prolonged method."
"At Wright's detective agency, it was just us and him, yet he left a code instead of a clear message, which suggests that someone might be monitoring him, or even us, in some way."
"No, how could my brother commit suicide? Our whole family are Christians, and my brother could even recite the entire Bible." Catherine widened her eyes, unable to help herself from interrupting Holmes's analysis.
"Please do not interrupt my train of thought. This is the last time."
Holmes looked serious and glanced at Catherine.
"However, the information provided by Ms. Catherine is also crucial. Thank you."
"Suicide is a grave sin in Christian doctrine; those who commit suicide will fall into hell. This suggests that the riddle he conveyed contains important intelligence, perhaps even worth going to hell for."
"That's all the clues I have gathered so far. Everyone, feel free to speak your mind."
Holmes gestured for the others to speak up.
"Then what exactly is the meaning of the code Joseph left behind?"
Watson looked at Holmes.
"Regarding that, I have some clues." Wright suddenly spoke up.