Unnamed Detective

This **detective** is only mentioned in a couple of notes in Chapter II Prologue.

## Biography

We never see the detective at all since he's only in a couple of notes. From context clues, we can summarize that he's been a detective working for the Sterling Police Department for a long time, since he was almost retiring by the time he got involved with a case in Snake Meadow Hill Church. He must've been good at his job too but can get stressed when dealing with supernatural things.

### The Miriam Bell Incident - Early or Mid 1950s

This detective was assigned to solve a missing case of a woman, four orphans, and the death of an old nun in Snake Meadow Hill Church. The people working at the Church tried to keep this case a secret since they already had orphans disappearing not too long ago from a thing in the fields, but rumors spread, and the authorities caught wind about the situation. Although the detective was a little annoyed that he had to work when he's so close to retire, he teams up with Father Clarke to figure out what's going on since Clarke was the only one in the whole Church who wasn't superstitious or terrified about what's going on.

The two try to look for the missing people by driving around the farm roads late in the night. The two remaining twin orphans, who the detective thinks were sleeping when the other four went missing, tell him that the missing woman, Miriam Bell, isn't gone. Asking where she is, the twins say that he should look for her himself.

One morning, the detective finds four life-sized dolls made out of sticks surrounding the Church. He wonders if a group of weirdos might've placed it there. The twins are fixated on them and stare at them all day from their rooms. Sometimes, they shout that they see Miriam standing among the dolls, but the detective never sees her. Lately, the detective has been feeling mentally drained from staying in the Church, either the twin's odd behavior or driving on the farm roads late at night are getting to him. He says that's he's been experiencing a recurring nightmare of standing near the cornfield that's close to the Church. He looks out and sees people painted in red staring right back at him through the fields.

On one fateful night, around two in the morning, the detective and Father Clarke wake up from the sound of an old woman cackling, coming from a hallway outside the twins' rooms. Following the source, they find out that the laughter is emanating from a painting of Virgin Mary. Suddenly, they hear a loud noise from the chapel. By the time they make it there, they see Miriam dragging the twins down the stairs leading to the basement. Clarke stops the detective from withdrawing his service weapon. Clarke talks about doing God's work and goes down the basement by himself; sealing the entrance to the basement so that nobody can go in or out. The detective has no choice but to wait outside, becoming more paranoid since he can hear incomprehensible noises from the entrance. He summarizes what just happened in a note while he waits, thinking somebody will come across it. He ends his note that he only knows one thing through all of this; the Devil is real and pleads the reader to not enter the basement.

The detective's and Father Clarke's fate is unknown. Either way, this incident closed the Church for the second and final time.

### September 22nd to September 27th, 1987

Between these two dates, John experiences a nightmare where Chapter II Prologue takes place. In it, he explores Snake Meadow Hill Church after seemingly waking up from his car crash. Inside, he reads the notes left behind by the detective. This is the last time the detective is referenced.

## Theories

* The Chalice Demon might be the ghost of the detective.
	+ This demon's voicebox is unique, it has a dark, elderly, masculine voice.
	+ The demonic energy surrounding the Church affects how people move on when they die in the building or the surrounding area. We see this with the Spindly Lady, who's more than likely the ghost of the old nun who died when Miriam and four orphans disappeared.
	+ The only contradiction is that we aren't 100% sure if the detective survived or not. Unlike Father Clarke, who trapped himself with Miriam and whatever demonic entity that was there, the detective had a chance to escape the area.
* The people painted in red the detective saw in his dream might be thralls.
	+ The detective thinking whoever placed the dolls there as hoodlums or a group of weirdos accurately depicts how the authorities within Sterling refer the thralls to,
		- The police officer finding the thralls burning his cop car in 87' calls them hippies.
	+ The people painted in red also perfectly describe how they look like; their bodies are completely red like we see in-game.
		- This fact in of itself gives backstory to what Miriam was doing; this taking of children was completely intentional and was pre-planned by the cult for some kind of sacrifice.