Part 1 – The Joker Chapter 10 – Normal
”Who?”
Klein was thinking about the original owner’s mysterious suicide and the unknown dangers he might have encountered, when he heard the sudden knock on the door, he subconsciously pulled open the drawer, took out the revolver, and asked with a wary voice.
There was silence at the door for two seconds, and a slightly shrill voice called out in an Ahowa accent:
”I, Mountbatten, Beech Mountbatten.”
The voice paused and added:
”Police.”
Bitch Mountbatten …… As the name drilled into his ears, Klein immediately thought of its corresponding owner.
It was one of the police officers in charge of the neighborhood where the apartment was located, a man who was rude and brutal and cool with his hands, but perhaps the only one who could shake down the drunks and thieves and part-time thieves and thugs and hoodlums.
And the distinctive voice was one of his labels.
”Okay, I’ll be right there!” Klein responded in a loud voice.
He was about to throw the revolver back into the drawer, but thinking that the police outside had come for some reason and might make a move to search it, etc., he carefully ran over to the stove, where the remaining fire had long since died out, and placed the pistol inside.
Immediately afterward he took up the small basket containing the coals, and shaking a few pieces into the stove, covered the gun, and finally placed the kettle on the top to cover all.
This done, he straightened his clothes and approached the door of the room with a quick step, opening it vaguely as he did so:
”Sorry, just taking a nap.”
Outside the door stood four police officers in black with white checkered uniforms and badge fedoras, and Beech Mountbatten, who had a brown and yellow beard, coughed and addressed Crane:
”These three officers have something to question you about.”
Officers? Klein reflexively looked at the shoulder patches of the other three and realized that two had three silver six-pointed stars and one had two, all of which appeared to be more senior than Beech Mountbatten, who only had three V-tags.
As a history student, Klein hadn’t done much research on police shoulder badge ratings, except that Beech Mountbatten often bragged about being a senior sergeant.
So those three were inspector grade? Influenced by the words of older brothers Benson and Welch and other classmates, Klein still knew a little bit of common sense, he let his body go and pointed inside the room:
”Please come in. I wonder what’s going on?”
The leader of the three officers was a middle-aged man whose gaze was so sharp that it seemed to be able to see through the mind, making people unable to help but be afraid, with wrinkles evident at the corners of his eyes and light brown hair showing on the edges of his hat, he asked in a deep voice while surveying the room in a self-conscious manner:
”You know Welch McGovern, don’t you?”
”What about him?” Klein asked rhetorically, offhandedly, as his heart fluttered.
”I’m the one asking you.” The imposing middle-aged officer’s eyes were morose.
The officer next to him, who also wore a three-star shoulder patch, looked at Klein and smiled gently:
”There’s no need to be nervous, we’re just making a customary inquiry.”
This officer was around thirty, with a straight nose and gray eyes that gave off an indescribable sense of depth, like a lake in an ancient forest that was not visited.
Klein took a dark breath and organized his words:
”If you are referring to the graduate of Hoy University, Welch McGovern from Constanton, then I am certain that I recognize him, we were classmates under the same mentor, Senior Associate Professor Quentin Cohen.”
In the Kingdom of Ruen, “professor” is not only a title, but also a position, just like on Earth, the professor and the department head of one, that is to say, a university and a department can only have one professor, associate professors can only wait for the retirement of the boss, or by virtue of the strength of the other side to squeeze out. In other words, a university can only have one professor in a department.
In view of the need to retain talents, after many years of exploration, the Kingdom Higher Education Commission added senior associate professors to the three-tier system of lecturers, associate professors, and professors, which was given to the ladies and gentlemen who had high academic levels or old enough qualifications, but could not become professors.
Speaking of which, Klein looked the elderly officer in the eye and said after a second of consideration:
”Honestly, we have a pretty good relationship, he and I, and Naya, have been seeing each other a lot in the meantime, interpreting and discussing the ‘Quaternary’ literature he’s been given, a notebook, officer, what happened to him?”
Instead of answering, the middle-aged officer glanced sideways at his gray-eyed companion.
The gray-eyed officer with the badge fedora and ordinary features answered meekly:
”I’m sorry to say that Mr. Welch passed away.”
”How so?” Despite some premonition, Klein couldn’t help but utter a shocked voice.
Welch had died like the body’s original owner?
That would be a bit scary!
”What about Naya?” Klein pursued in a panic.
”Ms. Naya also passed away.” The gray-eyed officer said rather calmly, “They both died inside Mr. Welch’s residence.”
”Murdered?” Klein had a vague guess.
Maybe it was a suicide ……
The gray-eyed officer shook his head:
”No, from the marks at the scene, they committed suicide, Mr. Welch hit his head against the wall, so many times that it was covered in blood, and Ms. Naya drowned herself in a basin of water, well, the kind you use to wash your face.”
”That can’t be ……” said Klein, listening with a shrug of sweat, and seeming able to visualize the bizarre scene.
The girl was kneeling on a chair, burying her face in the washbasin filled with water, her brown hair softly cascading down and swaying in the wind, but her whole body was motionless; Welch was on the floor, his eyes staring at the ceiling in death, his forehead completely shattered and streaked with blood, while the wall was drenched with blood from impact mark after impact mark ……
The corners of the gray-eyed officer’s mouth twitched as he said:
”We thought so too, but the autopsy results and the situation at the scene ruled out factors such as drugs and external forces, and they, I mean Mr. Welch, Ms. Naya, showed no signs of resistance.”
Not waiting for Klein to speak again, he stepped into the room and asked in a faux casual manner:
”When was the last time you saw Mr. Welch or Ms. Naya?”
As he spoke, he indicated with his eyes the companion with the two silver stars.
It was a young officer who looked to be about Klein’s size, with dark sideburns and green pupils, a good-looking man with the romantic air of a poet.
Hearing the question, Klein’s thoughts raced and he pondered the answer:
”It would have been June 26th, when we worked together to decipher the contents of a new piece of notes, after which I returned home to prepare for my interview on the 30th, well, for the history department at Tingen University.”
Tingen was known as the city of universities, with two universities, Tingen and Hoy, a technical school, a barristers’ college, and a business school, second only to the capital city of Birkeland.
As soon as he finished speaking, out of the corner of his eye he saw the young officer walk over to the desk and pick up the “notes”, which were more like a diary.
Oops! I forgot to hide it! Klein shouted briefly, “You!”
The young officer smiled back at him but didn’t stop flipping through the notes while the gray-eyed officer explained:
”It’s a necessary procedure.”
At this point, both Beech Mountbatten and the imposing middle-aged officer simply looked on without interjecting or assisting in the search.
Where is your warrant? Klein had intended to question this, but after careful consideration, it seemed that the justice system of the Kingdom of Ruin had not yet evolved such a thing as a search warrant, or at least he didn’t know if he had one, after all, even the police force had only been established for fifteen or sixteen years.
When the original owner was a child, they were still called sheriffs.
Unable to stop himself, Klein watched as the young officer quickly flipped through his “own notes” and the gray-eyed officer didn’t ask any more questions.
”What’s so strange?” The young officer flipped to the end and spoke abruptly, “And what does that mean? ‘Everyone dies, including me’ ……”
Isn’t it common knowledge that everyone dies except for the gods? Klein was originally prepared to make a sophomoric remark, but it suddenly occurred to him that he had originally planned to “connect” with the police in order to prepare for the dangers that might come his way, but he was just struggling to find a reason or an excuse for doing so.
In less than a second, he made a decision, covered his forehead with his hand, and replied in a pained tone:
”I don t know, I really don t know …… After I woke up this morning, I felt that I was not quite right, as if I had forgotten some things, especially the part that happened in the last few days, and it was not even clear why I wrote such a sentence.”
Sometimes, confession is the best way to solve the problem, of course, to confess to speak skills, what can speak what can not speak is one side, which first speak which after speaking how to speak is another side.
As a “keyboard” expert, Klein had also studied a little bit of conversation.
”Ridiculous! Do you take us for fools?” Beech Mountbatten interjected angrily, he couldn’t help it.
This lie was so clumsy that it was practically insulting the intelligence of people like himself!
It’s better for you to pretend to be mentally ill than to pretend to have amnesia!
”Really.” Klein frankly responded to the gazes of Mountbatten and the middle-aged officer.
It really couldn’t be more true.
”Maybe it’s really possible.” At that moment, the gray-eyed officer spoke slowly.
What? That’s believable? Klein was surprised himself.
The gray-eyed officer looked at him with a smile and said:
”A specialist will be coming in a couple days, and believe me, she should be able to help you recall your lost memories.”
A specialist? Help with memories? In the field of psychology? Klein frowned.
Hmph, what if this messes with my Earth’s memories? He suddenly felt a toothache.
The young officer put down his notes and searched the desk and room once, fortunately focusing on the books and not lifting the kettle to have a look.
”Well Mr. Klein, thank you for your cooperation, it would be best if you do not leave Tingen for the next few days, if you must, please notify Officer Mountbatten or you will be a fugitive from justice.” The gray-eyed officer concluded with a final admonition.
That was the end of it? That’s the end of the day? No more questions, no more investigations? Or take me back to the police station to be tortured? Klein was at a loss for a moment.
However, he also wanted to solve the bizarre incident brought about by Welch, so he nodded:
”No problem.”
The officers exited the room in turn, and the young man at the end of the walk abruptly tapped Klein on the shoulder:
”That’s nice and lucky.”
”What?” Klein looked confused.
The green-eyed officer with the air of a poet smiled slightly and said:
”Generally speaking, it’s the norm for all parties involved to die when encountering this kind of incident.”
”We are glad and lucky to see you alive.”
With that said, he walked out of the room, shutting the door with an educated hand.
All dead is the norm? Glad I’m alive? Lucky I’m alive?
On this June afternoon, Klein was chilled all over.