Eldritch Guidance

Chapter 96 – More Background Checks

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In the same secluded room of the Archive, nearly all of Joe’s group had gathered, with the exception of Alan. Among the members present were the newly recruited enforcers, blending into the tight-knit team. Sandra, a head librarian, sat on one corner of the table, writing something down in a book. The large table in the center of the room was cluttered with piles of papers and stacks of books, a chaotic testament to their mounting workload. Ever since the unsettling incident involving the Slime creature with Alan and Jafar, the group had found themselves burdened with an ever-increasing amount of paperwork.

One of their newest assignments involved conducting a comprehensive background check on the individual Alan and Jafar had tried—unsuccessfully—to save. The man who died, named Ricky, was a figure shrouded in mystery. None of Joe’s group knew much about him, making the task all the more annoying. Determined to maintain their momentum, they had gathered every document, record, and file remotely connected to Ricky—and brought them along to the Archive.

Joe could easily decipher the subtext behind the sudden influx of paperwork. It was a calculated punishment from Murdock—a subtle yet effective way to reprimand them without creating tension between the police and the university. By drowning Joe’s group in bureaucratic busywork, Murdock had made his point loud and clear. This was fallout from the trouble Alan and Jafar had stirred up during that slime creature incident, a mess that had unfolded under Joe’s watch.

Joe wasn’t the type to shift blame onto his team. As their leader, he believed it was his responsibility to anticipate and mitigate such situations. He understood that Alan and Jafar’s actions were not unreasonable, until that slime creature showed up. Still, even with this understanding, the sheer annoyance of the paperwork didn’t diminish. The stacks of documents piled high in their small room felt like Murdock’s personal jab, a way to exploit Joe’s well-known aversion to administrative drudgery.

The head of the police had a knack for knowing exactly how to needle him without crossing a line. Joe accepted it, though, albeit grudgingly. If this was the price of leadership and keeping his team intact, then he’d pay it—annoying as it was. But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t mutter a few choice words about Murdock under his breath.

Now, the group had split their efforts. Half of them pored over the records Sorin had looked at, sifting through every detail with meticulous care. The other half focused on tracing Ricky’s paper trail,

Mike: “If Jixi is creating these things, then why? Why is he even killing these people in the first place?”

Jafar: “Maybe, they know where he’s hiding, and he's trying to silence them so we don’t find him.”

Rell: “That might be it, but let's see what Jixi learned from these books first before we get too deep into our theories. Sandra, could you find us these books?”

Sandra: “Absolutely. Just give me a few minutes,” she said as she started sorting through the crate of books.