Spoiler: Floral Senses
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You can't see into the former holding cells, but your sense of smell tells you that the source of the smells is roughly 30 feet down the corridor, to the right of where you're standing. With family in the police force (as well as ludicrous amounts of intelligence and general knowledge), you know that holding cells are usually 8 by 8 squares, so it's almost certainly the fourth room down on the right.

The man in front of you smells like he has a really bad case of tapeworms (oh, the joys of an extremely sensitive nose).


Spoiler: Ariadne General Mythology
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Spiders are all over in mythology; Ariadne herself is sometimes conflated or confused with Arachne, the weaver who angered Athena by boasting or winning their weaving contest (depending on who you ask) and became the first spider. However, in studying this creature, you realize that the resemblance it has to a "spider" is only that, a resemblance; there are too many legs, too few eyes, the proportions are wrong. It looks most like a spider, but isn't one.

As for possessing spirits... the lwa (or loa, or loi) of the Vodou religion come to mind, mostly due to the striking colors, resemblance to a living creature without actually being that creature, and the possessing aspect. However, once again, while there are superficial similarities, the deeper you go the more they diverge. Lwa are protector spirits; some may be capricious, withdrawing their aid or inflicting disease due to anger or dislike of the offerings given to them, they are not malicious. In addition, lwa only possess their parishioners during certain rituals, and then to offer advice and aid, not to... consume. The name sticks in your head, but it is definitely off, not quite fitting.

The thing in front of you doesn't quite fit any mythology you can think of; it has characteristics of "demons" or "devils", but seems more like a spiritual predator of some sort, feeding off of the person and controlling him as it does so.