THE CYCLE OF TORMENT

CHAPTER XIII: HYPOTHESIS

"Hey, I think it's finished." Tabitha said. She walked over to the computer to expect the results. "Alright, so this fur is not real animal fur. It's actually green fabric." Tabitha said.

"Do you know what it's from?" Larson asked. "My guess? A toy or something. I can get a match if-"

"Look up Plushtrap Chaser from Fazbear entertainment." Larson interrupted.

"Okay... that was pretty specific." Tabitha said, confused.

"Just trust me." Larson insisted.

She typed in Plushtrap Chaser while mumbling to herself. She got some images up while comparing them to the fur. Larson kept it to himself, but the toy looked more creepy than he thought. It amazes him that Fazbear entertainment was able to stay afloat for this long.

"Umm... it's uh... it's a perfect match. Same shade and quality." Tabitha said, surprised. Larson nodded and went on his way. He had a job to do. "Hey! One more thi-"

As Tabitha was talking, Larson was already out the door. She rolled her eyes. "Ugh, typical. Every time. Every time!"

Larson returned to his office with a new mindset. He now knew that the fur was from a Plushtrap Chaser toy. Now, all he had to do was connect a few more dots and do a lot of brainstorming. "This is going to be a long night." Larson said.

***

After several hours of reading through over a dozen articles and reviewing surveillance footage of the Stitchwraith, Larson found a connection. As he was watching the recovered surveillance footage, he paid more attention to what it was collecting. It was collecting old toys and mannequin torsos. However, he also noticed that it was collecting old Fazbear entertainment toys.

He read through police reports and saw that there were times when witnesses reported seeing the Stitchwraith stealing animatronic parts from abandoned pizzerias. Larson thought that if the Stitchwraith was mostly stealing items from Fazbear entertainment, then it must have a connection to it.

Larson remembered when he encountered it face to face. It's doll mask, the red light on its chest, the metal, skeletal hands. It was a robot. It had to be. Larson still wondered if it was a robot, how was it behaving this way? If it was some kind of animatronic made by Fazbear entertainment, who would program it to do these things?

He remembered the disappearance that happened recently, the one with Sarah Nichols. He remembered that her house was near an old junkyard, the perfect target for the Stitchwraith. He would have to go there and investigate later. He thought back to another strange case he was involved in. It was a few years ago though. He didn't quite remember all the details. All he remembered was that it was about a murder that took place in some kind of factory with a laboratory in it.

He couldn't remember the name of the victim. He was sure it would come to him later. He then had another theory. What if the Stitchwraith wasn't just collecting random junk. Of course, the Fazbear entertainment part wasn't random, but what if it was only going after specific items. It's not like the Stitchwraith was just going around stealing any and all garbage in sight. It's just collecting certain things. More specifically, items connected to old rumors. He thought back once again to the newspapers. He remembered certain items from those articles that were being collected by the Stitchwraith according to the reports and recovered footage.

It was a huge stretch, but Larson was willing to take whatever he could get. He had a feeling he might find something at that junkyard. If the Stitchwraith was interested in something there, there would be a good chance that Larson might be able to set a trap for the Stitchwraith and wrap this case up once and for all. It was settled. He would leave as soon as he could to go to the junkyard near Sarah Nichols' house. Chief Monahan walked into the office all of a sudden.