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‘Then what the hell?’ said Hector. ‘One minute, they’re in danger; the next, they’re not; and the one after that, they’re in danger again?’

‘I don’t know. This shit never happened in Atreya.’

‘Hmm.’

‘Hold on,’ said Garovel. ‘I think I know what’s happening. It’s us.’

‘What?’

‘When we get close, the danger goes away. When we leave, it comes back. Why might that be?’

Hector’s eyes widened inside his helm. ‘The killer sees us.’

‘But there’s no one else within eyeshot,’ said Garovel. ‘So the killer is either spying on this family with cameras, or the killer has a reaper who senses our presence.’

‘...Or both.’

‘Yup.’

‘Great. What now?’

‘Well, we don’t really have time to just wait for this to play out, but obviously, we also can’t just leave these people to get murdered, either.’

Hector could tell where this was going. ‘You want me to go in there and talk to the family? They’ll flip.’

‘Even so, that might be the best option here. The whole family had the aura of death. Even the kids. If we wait too long and let them split up, then you won’t be able to protect all of them.’

‘Agh...’ And perhaps he was just grasping for excuses, but a question occurred to Hector. ‘What I don’t get is... if the murderer can see us but still intends to kill this family after we leave, then why does the aura of death go away? Shouldn’t it stay?’

That made Garovel hesitate. ‘You’re absolutely right. So THAT’S what was bothering me so much about this. I knew it was something.’

‘Maybe we’re wrong, then. Maybe it’s not us that’s making the aura go away.’

‘Agh, but I can’t think of what else it would be. Dammit. Mysteries are supposed to be fun. I don’t like it when they’re weird and unsettling.’