Chapter 16: Chapter 15: Wichitmawan

"Are you hungry?" Thup turned to look at the older man, whose eyes were fixed on the road ahead, hesitating whether to ask him that question or not, but he had to ask it. “Because I'm hungry.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Singha stopped at a roadside noodle shop. Once the car was parked, they both got out of the car. When they entered the shop Singha asked, “What would you like to eat?” I want a Moo Nam Tok.” August said without having to look at the menu.

“I want some dry noodles with Tom Yum.” Thup looked at the menu and gave his order to the staff, then got up to get ice for himself and August, “Phi, what do you want to drink?”

"Water." Thup nodded, poured water from the dispenser, and walked back to sit in front of the other person. He took care of everything, took the cutlery and cleaned it, then took out a pair of chopsticks and prepared everything to wait for the food to be served.

"You are always like that?"

“Oh, I was in charge of preparing everything for Luang Pu, and it became a habit. “Now what are we going to do?”

“Well, we'll have to wait and see what they find in the victims' homes. “They are registering them.”

“Have they told you if they found the clay dolls?”

"Not yet." At the end of his words, suddenly, his phone rang. He took it out of his pocket and answered it.

[Where are you?]

“Speaking of the devil,” Singha received his bowl of noodles from the employee and placed his phone against his shoulder to continue talking.

[The forensic team's van overturned.] At this moment, the hand that had stretched out to grab the ground chili stopped in the air and correctly grabbed the phone.

"Where and when?"

[When we were going to the next victim's house, we now take everyone to the hospital. Luckily, there were no injuries.]

“Why did the car suddenly overturn?”

[I don't know, I wasn't going with them because after inspecting the first victim's house, they gathered everything and went to the next one.]

“Did you find anything in the house?”

[Nothing out of the ordinary. But I found the doll you told me about.]

“What is the doll like?”

[It is a clay doll with a lion's head.] Singha frowned tightly.

“And where is that doll?”

[Say took it and left it in the forensic team's van.] A pair of sharp eyes looked at Thup who was putting the noodles in his mouth.

“I'll be right back.” Singha hung up the phone before immediately calling an employee to come collect the money.

“Are we leaving now?” Thup looked up with a worried expression.

“Eat calmly, I'll be right back.” The young inspector finished paying and immediately stood up and walked towards the car. Thup thought the call must be quite urgent.

Singha returned to the table and handed a folder to Thup. On the other hand, he called a close friend from the forensic department. The young man took the file and held it with a puzzled face. When he saw the older man motioning for him to open it and take a look, he immediately snorted.

“What day is the lion-headed doll used?”

"As?" Thup asked again.

“Mae Thua, what day is your doll used? Hello Say, where are you?”

The first sentence was directed to the minor in front of him, while the next was to the person on the other end of the line, who had just taken his call.

“Sunday, Mae Thua is invoked on Sundays. It is a doll with a lion's head. It’s called Wichitmawan.”

“Look up who was born on Sunday, when they disappeared and when they died.”

[Who are you talking to?]

"Where are you?"

[In the car, going to the hospital.]

“Where is the doll that was in the forensic team's van?”

[Probably in the same hospital. They brought everything there.]

[I saw a ghost!!] Darin's voice penetrated the line straight into Singha's ear.

[Oh. When we were at the victim's house, Darin says he saw a ghost holding the doll. He came out crying and I had to take him to the temple to make merits, before heading to the next victim's house. But they notified me of the accident and we changed course to go to the hospital.]

“First check that everything is okay, I will catch you there.”

[Where are you?]

“On the way back.”

[So, you went to investigate the matter in the prison and what did you discover?]

“What I imagined. Fifteen years ago there were many police officers who were looking for scapegoats to move up the ranks. “They didn’t care how, but they just wanted to close the cases.”

[Um, that's how they were before.]

“Wait, Say.” August looked at the photo again. “If you find a doll, don't do anything yet. “I’ll go look for her myself.”

[Because?]

"I'll explain later." After a few more sentences, the two ended the call and then shuffled off to do their own homework.

“That doll…” Thup said quietly, but he didn't dare to speak more when he saw the serious expression on the older man's face. Besides, maybe it wouldn't be information that would help him anyway, so he focused on searching for the information they asked for.

“I found the information you asked for.” Thup handed him the sheet where the information they asked him to find was. “James was born on Sunday, he was the first to disappear… and that was also a Sunday. I guess he chose it based on his date of birth.”

Singha read the information as he listened to it, but frowned.

“Anyway, it's better that everyone's houses be inspected first. If the murderer uses the dolls, and they really coincide with the days of birth, we will know what he bases on choosing his victims… but we must find out how.”

'Where can I get that information?'

Singha took his glass of water and drank it all before sitting down with a bored expression.

“Aren't you going to eat even a little bit? It will get cold.”

"I'm not hungry anymore. Hurry up and eat.”

“Don't worry, we better go now, we don't have time to waste.”

“Come on… you better eat something. At any moment I fear that your body will fly away because you are so thin.”

“I am thin, but I am not light.”

August shook the straw until the water splashed on the head of the boy in front of him. It was true, like this kid said. It's not that small. This kid was a little taller than him now that he thought about it. His body was thinner, but probably because he didn't exercise. If she did them, she would easily have a beautiful figure.

“Actually, I wanted to tell you something about the doll. I think the best thing is that only you go for her.”

"Because?"

“I heard you talking on the phone about an accident, was the doll in that vehicle?”

"Yeah."

“I think the only person who could take that doll without suffering any harm… is you.”

“Why do you think so?”

“Do you know Thao Wessuwan?”

“No,” August replied. Thup looked at him a little. “Well, but he protects you.” he said quietly, because he remembered seeing it well.

“Do you know why you see ghosts?”

"No. Not even Luang Pu ever explained it to me, he only told me that in the future I would know for myself, and in the meantime, I should use the amulet.”

“Didn't he tell you how long? Does it mean that after losing the amulet, did you see ghosts again? Isn't there anywhere else you can get that amulet again?

”

“I've tried using others, but I still see them with them on.”

“And if I take the doll, do you think I will meet a ghost?” Is that what you want?"

“Actually…” Thup’s face darkened. “I think the difference is if you have it or someone else has it, it could hurt someone else, but it won't happen to you Phi. The ghosts that appear are not dangerous because they do not want to be reborn at all.”

"I'll think about it. Now we have to hurry. “Eat quickly, we have to go to the hospital.”

“Yes Phi.” Thup walked to the counter, leaving Singha to sit and rake the noodles into his own plate until all the contents were gone.

"Take. Come on." Said Thup who returned with a container in his hand, which he gave to Singha.

"What is this?"

“Salapao, I bought it for you to eat. You haven't eaten anything yet. “You can eat in the car.”

…

Doctor Say, who had just arrived, immediately went to check on his subordinates. One of the three people, the doctor who was in the van when the accident occurred, was now sitting at the front of the emergency room with a bandage on his head.

“Iko, how are the others?”

"Minor injuries. The rest are inside being cared for.” He responded when he looked up and saw his boss.

“How did they overturn the vehicle?”

“I wasn't driving boss, it was Chok. “I was a passenger.”

"And what happened?"

“We were talking about the wrists, and suddenly, Chok said the steering wheel went tense, like there was someone blocking the front of the car. He then swerved and the truck went off the road, lost control and overturned. But I'm sure there was no one in front of the car, I didn't see anyone.”

“I told you, that doll really has a ghost.” Darin said shaking his head, his arms trembled making his entire body shake.

“And the doll from the victim's house? Where is he now? You didn’t bring her with you, did you?” Darin turned and nodded, looking at the injured person sitting on the other side of Say.

“Oh, I have it here.” Iko grabbed an evidence bag containing the lion-headed doll and held it up for both of them to see. When Darin saw her, he immediately hid behind his friend. “Nurse Dol had it in her hand, I had to force her to give it to me because she wouldn't let go, even with a broken finger.”

“Did you hear that, Say? I told you there was really something to that.”

“Here you guys are,” the newcomer's voice made the three of them turn to look.

“Hello, inspector.” Iko said who was going to stand up, but was stopped by Singha.

"Please sit down. How are they?"

“I had a slight contusion on my head. Chok dislocated his shoulder and has a cut on his lip that is being stitched. “Nurse Dol broke her finger, which is being put in a cast now.”

As he spoke, Thup glanced at the clay lion-headed doll in the evidence bag on Iko's lap. He looked left and right, but did not see the female ghost he had seen before. I only saw the ghosts that wandered through the hospital corridors. Some still didn't know they had died and others looked worried.

“Oh, that's the doll. Give it to me.” Singha reached out to take the evidence bag and then spoke to his friend. “ Say, where do you have the other one that I gave you.”

“In the office,” Say replied with a serious face. “Since three of my employees are in the hospital, now I will have to work three times as hard.”

“Don't do any tests yet. Let me collect them all first. Meanwhile, I will keep them.”

"Because?"

"I will tell you later. And King, where is he now.”

“He went to the second victim's house.” Darin answered.

“So, I'll see you later at the station.”

“Phi Darin.” Thup spoke suddenly . “What you saw, was it a woman?”

"Yeah! How do you know? Thup, I had to go have the monk pour holy water on me!! Do you think it works?” Darin quickly clung in fear to the arm of his close friend, Say.

“I don't know Phi, but... can you tell me what it looked like?”

“Oh, I don't even want to remember it because it was truly terrifying. It was a female ghost with no eyes, she looked young. His mouth opened wide. It scares me as much as that doll. This case is no longer normal. Damn Sing.” Darin went from clinging to Say's arm to shaking August's arm.

“It was different…” Thup murmured.

"As you say?" Singha did not pay much attention to his friend, but instead turned his attention to the person behind him who had just spoken.

“She was different from the one I saw.”

“Why is this matter so chaotic?” Singha cursed angrily. “I'll go find King. I'll let you take care of everything here. ” The inspector told his friend.

"Yes of course."

Then, Singha returned with Thup to the car. Once they climbed in, he tossed the doll that was in the bag onto Thup's lap. The young man could only act timidly before turning to look around the car in fear.

“See if it's similar to the doll you saw,” said the young inspector as he pulled the car out of the parking lot to head to the next victim's house.

Thup picked up the evidence bag and looked at the contents. After staring at her, he thought about whether or not she looked like the one he saw being vomited in the gym. The body shape is that of a normal Sia-kaban doll, but on top of it is a lion's head, turned backwards. Upon seeing it, he knew that it must have been made by hand.

“The body is similar, but the head is not.”

“And what does that mean? “Is that what you meant when you said ghosts were different?”

“The ghost I saw in Khun Min's house had eyes. But they were only blank. The one Darin saw had no pupils. That means they are different people.”

“Have you ever talked about black magic?”

"Yeah

“So what does the bastard want? What did he do this for? What good is it?”

"Don't know. For now we don't know, but it is certain that the ghosts that follow these dolls are definitely theirs.”

“Do you have anyone who knows about these things?”

"I got it." Thup pursed his lips slightly with a worried expression. Of course I had it, but I would have the courage to see it... that's another question.