Pietro Salk reports on the eight members of the Reconstructionist cult, arrested for and now cleared of the theft of the Cube.
By PIETRO SALK
Eight members of a breakaway Cubist cult have been released from police custody today after an extensive investigation turned up no evidence of wrongdoing. The members of the religion, which calls itself the Reconstructionists, have gone to a countryside compound "for meditation and purification after their long ordeal," Reconstructionist spokesmen say.
The Recon Eight were apprehended in October of last year after an anonymous police informant fingered them as responsible for the theft of the Receda Cube. At the time, Police Lieutenant Camden Ho indicated that the cult had been under observation for some time, and that their religious scriptures include a prophecy that the Receda Cube would someday "be delivered from the faithless hands of the Academics."
"We thought we had clear evidence that the Reconstructionists had long planned to steal the Cube," said Police chief Eoin Morgan today. "As it turns out, despite any presence of motive, there is no material proof that they followed through."
Morgan refused to answer in detail questions regarding the current state of the investigation, citing the need for security, but he did claim that the case is "by no means" at a dead end.
The Eight, whose names have never been released by the police, are allegedly very senior members of the cult. Although the Reconstructionists have spoken to the press on their behalf, the eight themselves have not released a statement on their arrest nor subsequent release.
