Part 1 The Joker Chapter 12 The Door Again
Sister, can we not mention which pot is not open which pot …… Klein secretly spat, only to feel that his head began to throb and ache again.
The knowledge that the original owner has forgotten is not too much, but definitely not too much, and the interview is coming up the day after tomorrow, so how can he have time to make up for it ……
And also involved in the bizarre and horrible events, how can have the heart to “review”……
The woman’s sister, Klein began to pretend to read, Melissa moved a chair, sat next to her, borrowed the light of the gas lamp to do their homework.
The atmosphere is quiet and happy, almost eleven o’clock, brother and sister exchanged good night, each went to bed.
……
Knock!
Knock knock!
A knock sounded on the door and Klein awoke from his dream.
He glanced out the window at the morning sun and rolled over in a slightly dazed head to sit up:
”Who is it?”
What time is it? Why didn’t Melissa wake me up?
”Me, Dunn Smith.” A deep male voice answered from the door.
Dunn Smith? Don’t recognize …… Klein shook his head and got out of bed, walking towards the door.
He pulled open the door to his room and saw the same officer from yesterday with the gray eyes.
”Is something wrong?” Klein asked warily.
The gray-eyed officer answered with a serious expression:
”We found a carriage driver who confirmed that you had been to Mr. Welch’s residence on the 27th, the day of Mr. Welch and Ms. Naya’s deaths, and that it was Mr. Welch who paid for your carriage.”
Klein was stunned for a moment, not the least bit horrified or heartbroken that his lie had been exposed.
For he was not lying at all, but on the contrary felt that the evidence given by gray-eyed officer Dunn Smith was not out of its own expectation.
On the day of June 27th, the original owner really did go to Welch’s residence anyway, and on the night of his return, he committed suicide, exactly like Welch and Naya!
Klein opened his mouth and flooded it with a bitter smile, saying:
”It’s not strong enough evidence to directly prove that I had something to do with Welch and Naya’s deaths, and honestly, I’d really like to know what happened, to figure out what happened to my two poor friends, but, but, I really can’t remember, I’ve almost completely forgotten what I did on the 27th, and you probably won’t believe me when I say it, and I’m relying solely on my own notes to just barely guessed that I might have been at the Welch residence on the 27th.”
”Good psychology.” Gray-eyed Officer Dunn Smith nodded without seeing anger or a smile.
”You should be able to hear my sincerity.” Klein looked straight into the other man’s eyes.
I’m telling the truth, of course, only one part of the truth!
Dunn-Smith didn’t respond immediately, his eyes sweeping the room before he slowly said:
”Mr. Welch lost a revolver, I think I should be able to find him here, right, Mr. Klein?”
Sure enough …… Crane finally figured out where the revolver had come from, and the thoughts in his mind turned like lightning leaps, and he made a decision in an instant.
He half raised his hands, stepped back and out of the way, then pointed with his chin toward the high-low bed:
”On the back of the bedpan.”
He didn’t specify the lower one, because no one in their right mind would hide something on the back of an upper bedpan that would be visible to visitors at a glance.
Gray-eyed Officer Dunn didn’t move forward and drawled:
”Nothing you wish to add?”
Klein answered without hesitation:
”Yes!”
”When I woke up in the middle of the night before last, I found myself lying on my desk next to my revolver, with bullets in the foot of the wall, and it looked as if I had experienced a suicide, only perhaps inexperienced, not using a pistol, or scared at the last moment, in any case the bullets didn’t have the desired effect, and my head was still intact, and I lived to see the end of the day.”
”And from that point on, I forgot some of my memories, including what I did and what I saw at the Welch residence on the 27th, and I’m not lying, I really don’t remember.”
In an effort to clear his name and to resolve the bizarre events that have haunted him, Klein tells almost the whole story, except for the crossing and the “party.”
In addition, he tinkered with the wording to make each sentence stand up, such as not saying that the bullet missed his head, only mentioning that it didn’t have the desired effect, and that his head remained intact afterwards.
To an onlooker’s ears, the two conveyed almost the same meaning, but were actually quite different.
Gray-eyed Officer Dunn listened quietly and spoke slowly and quietly:
”That fits well with what I presume to be the development, and with the hidden logic of previous similar events, but of course, I don’t know how you survived.”
”I’m glad you believe that, I don’t know how I survived either.” Klein was slightly relieved.
”But ……” Dunn threw in a twist, “I believe it’s no use, there’s a high level of suspicion on you now, you’ll have to go through ‘expert’ confirmation that you really did forget the encounter, or really didn’t directly cause the deaths of Mr. Welch and Ms. Naya.”
He coughed and his expression became serious:
”Mr. Klein, please cooperate with the investigation and come back to the police station with us, this will take about two to three days, if you are indeed okay with it.”
”The experts have arrived?” Klein asked rhetorically, frozen.
Didn’t he say two days?
”She’s earlier than we even expected.” Dunn sidestepped his body and gestured for Klein to go out the door.
”I’ll leave a note.” Klein pleaded.
Benson was still traveling, Melissa was off at school, and could only leave a message to tell them about the one thing he had involving Welch, so they wouldn’t worry.
Dunn nodded without much concern:
”Could be.”
Klein went back to his desk and found paper to write on while he began to think about what would happen next.
Honestly, he was very reluctant to meet that expert, after all, there was a much bigger secret hidden within itself.
In a place where there are seven churches, and under the premise that the suspected “predecessor” of Rossel the Great was assassinated, this kind of “crossing over” is most likely to enter the Inquisition and go to the arbitration tribunal!
However, no weapons, no fighting skills, no extraordinary power of their own how to be a professional police officer’s opponent, not to mention, outside the door in the darkness is still standing several Dunn’s subordinates.
If they draw their guns and fire a volley, they will be accounted for!
”Whew, one step at a time.” Klein left a note, took the key, and followed Dunn out of the room.
In the dimly lit corridor, four black-clothed, white-checkered police officers were on both sides, very alert.
Snap, snap, snap, Klein followed Dunn, stepping down the wooden stairs, one step at a time, with occasional creaks and squeaks to be heard.
A four-wheeled, single-horse carriage with the police system’s symbol of “Crossed Swords and Crowned Crowns” was parked outside the apartment door, surrounded by the same hustle and bustle as every morning before.
”Up you go.” Dunn gestured for Klein to go first.
Klein was just about to take a step when suddenly an oyster vendor grabbed a customer and accused the other of being a thief.
The two sides scuffled, startling the horses, and the surroundings became chaotic.
Opportunity!
With no time to think, Klein bent forward and snatched into the crowd.
Either pushing or shoving, or dodging, he ran frantically towards the other end of the street.
Under the present circumstances, in order not to “see” the experts, the only way to go to the docks outside the city, take a boat down the Tasok River, escape to the capital city of Bekrand, where the population is large, easy to hide.
Of course, it is also possible to pick up a steam train and head east to the nearest port of Enmart, taking the sea route to Pritz before heading to Birkeland.
Before long, Klein ran down the street and turned into Iron Cross, where several hireable wagons were parked.
”To the docks outside the city.” With a brace of his hand, Klein jumped into one of them.
He thought clearly, to deliberately mislead the pursuing police first, wait until the carriage drove some distance away, and then jump straight off himself!
”Okay.” The coachman pulled up the reins.
Ta-da-da, the carriage drove away from Iron Cross Street.
Just as Klein was about to jump off, he suddenly realized that the carriage turned to another road, not the one leading out of the city!
”Where are you going?” Klein froze and asked offhandedly.
”To Welch’s residence ……,” the coachman replied in a tone that didn’t see any rise or fall.
What? In the midst of Klein’s shock, the coachman turned his body, revealing deep, cold gray eyes, just like Officer Dunn Smith!
”You!” Klein was so horrified that he suddenly felt the sky spinning, and his whole body sat up violently.
Sitting up? Klein looked left and right, and realized that the red moon was in full bloom outside the window, and the room was covered with a “light veil”.
He reached out and touched his forehead, wet and cold, all cold sweat, behind the same feeling.
”Had a nightmare ……” Klein exhaled slowly, “okay, okay ……”
He felt quite lucid in his dream, and was able to think calmly, rather strangely.
After a slight reprieve, Klein picked up his pocket watch and glanced at it, realizing that it was just after two o’clock in the middle of the night, so he quietly got out of bed, intending to go to the communal washroom to wash his face, and in the meantime, solve the problem of his suffocating belly.
Twisting open the door to his room, he made his way down the dimly lit aisle and approached the common washroom with very light footsteps in the faint, indistinguishable moonlight.
Suddenly, he saw a figure standing in front of the window at the end of the hallway.
The figure was dressed in a black trench coat-like costume shorter than a robe and longer than a formal dress.
The figure was half blended into the darkness, bathed in the cool scarlet moonlight.
The figure slowly turned his body, his eyes deep, gray, and cold.
Dunn Smith!