Part 1 The Joker Chapter 172 “Autopsy”
”How long has the, the congressman gentleman been dead?” Klein asked straight to the heart of the matter as he gathered himself up.
If it was more than 15 minutes, the information that could be harvested would become less cliff-like, and if it was more than 1 hour, only more cursory things could be obtained.
If it was more than 1 month, there was a great probability that the psychic itself would fail.
”Unfortunately, the preliminary examination report shows that Councilor Maynard died between 9 and 11 pm last night.” Dunn shook his head and said, “You only need to provide help, don’t have to think about whether or not you’ll get anything out of it.”
”Okay.” Crane removed his coat, grabbed his hat and cane, and marched outside the watch room while Dunn-Smith took his turn at the Charnis Gate in his place.
In fact, theoretically speaking, as an extraordinary person, as long as one’s spirituality has been improved, then things such as psychic vision, divination and ritual magic can be learned, especially the “Sleepless One” sequence is also known for its high inspiration.
However, in reality, the difference between different sequences of various “professions” in similar aspects is still very obvious, for example, Dunn Smith and Leonard Mitchell are currently mastering spiritual vision, but the color of the aura they see is only light white or light blue, and they are unable to accurately distinguish the state of different parts of the human body, but of course, in the state of spiritual vision they can certainly see ghosts and spirits directly. Of course, in the state of spiritual vision they could certainly see ghosts and spirits directly, but this was not as simple and effective as their own inspiration.
This is why “Sleepless”, “Midnight Poets” and “Nightmares” don’t like to turn on their psychic vision.
Likewise, they can learn methods such as Pendulum, Divination Staff, and Dream Divination if they wish, but the success rate is just not what one would expect.
The same is true in the realm of ritual magic.
As the two brushed past each other, Dunn suddenly spoke:
”I forgot to mention just now, this matter is also handled by Inspector Toller, he is waiting for you in the reception hall of the security company, remember to change into your new uniform and take your new ID.”
Klein asked with a smile that didn’t surprise him at all:
”New uniform, new ID? The Tingen City Police Department is very efficient.”
He was just promoted to Serial 8 yesterday ……
”Because this case is important, so ……,” Dunn spread his hands and sat down where Klein had been before.
Klein made his way back upstairs, and instead of rushing to the reception hall, he entered the night watchman’s lounge and went to the attached washroom to solve his personal problems – only toilets, water bottles and basins were provided in the watchroom.
Then, he changed into a special police outfit upgraded to two silver stars and a fedora with “crossed swords and clustered crowns”.
After transferring the “Yangyan Charm”, “Aztec Copper Whistle” and “Ceremonial Materials”, Klein smoothed out his clothes and walked out of the lounge with his cane in hand.
Just after passing through the partition, he saw Inspector Toller sitting in the sofa area.
It had been some time since he had seen him, but the taller the officer, the rounder he had gotten, the more his stomach stood out, and with his thick beard and hair, he looked like a brown bear that had just escaped from the circus.
”It’s nice to be working with you again.” Relieved to see it was a recognizable night watchman, Toller leaned forward and stood up, extending his bear paw.
No, palms …… Klein silently corrected himself and gave the other man a courtesy handshake:
”Me too.”
At that moment, Toller glanced at Klein’s two silver stars glittering on his epaulettes, and said slightly enviously:
”We’re leveled, and it’s not even been a month.”
Klein wanted to say seriously, “The dangers we endure may be ten times greater than yours”, but on the verge of saying so, he thought of his current status – the “Joker” of Sequence 8.
Maybe try …… He replied with the help of his mind’s mirroring of facial expressions, the corners of his mouth turning up in a pronounced smile:
”Maybe in another two or three months, you’ll be addressing me as sir.”
”You’re in good humor.” Toller let out a laugh and pointed to the door, “Shall we head out?”
”Good.” Klein didn’t give up his cane; for him, becoming the Joker made the weapon worthy of its name.
Exiting the gates of Blackthorn Security, Klein and Toller descended the stairs side-by-side, one thin and one fat, a stark contrast.
”I think we can even go to the circus to make the audience laugh.” Klein suddenly laughed.
Toller nodded his head in perfect agreement:
”Yes, I think our contrast is very comedic. Did you know. Certain circuses are experimenting with combinations of clowns that are differently fat, thin, tall and short.”
No, actually, I mean tamers and brown bears …… Klein, of course, would not say anything so impolite as to concur:
”Unfortunately, we don’t have a regular circus in Tingen.”
”Yes, but we also have an opera house, and an amphitheater, and a concert hall.” Inspector Toller responded with slight regret.
The two men exchanged pleasantries as they boarded the police station’s carriage, and it was only then that Klein turned the conversation to the case:
”Is Senator Maynard certain that he was murdered?”
”Not for sure, but his wife, his two sons, are not willing to believe in the possibility of a sudden illness, and well, there does seem to be something wrong with the scene, Maynard was found without a shred of clothing on, lying like that on the bed in the guest room.” Toller said with deliberation.
”He and his wife were sleeping in separate rooms?” Klein leaned back against the wagon wall, mimicking the protagonists of various detective movies he’d seen in his past life.
Toller shook his head:
”No, his wife hasn’t been in Tingen for the last few days, she’s gone to an important social ball in Birkeland, and in case you didn’t know, she’s the daughter of a New Party leader, a member of the House of Commons, and she’s still on the steam train back to Tingen, she just telegraphed ahead.”
”Maynard, also a member of the New Party, had been a councillor for Tingen for more than ten years, and he intended to aim at the mayoralty in next year’s election.”
”Which means his death may have had something to do with it?” Klein asked casually, spinning around and losing his smile, “I’m just helping with the ‘autopsy’, anything else isn’t really in the realm of what I should be concerned with, so you don’t have to answer.”
Toller sighed with little concern:
”Autopsy …… you are very cautious.”
”As for your speculation, all I can say is maybe, Councilman Maynard had a party at his house last night, and there were too many guests coming and going for us to be able to identify the main suspects at the moment, and, since all of those guests have decent status, we have to be careful enough not to make a mistake.”
”Understood.” Klein nodded gently and asked about some more details of the scene with considerable interest.
Maynard’s home was located in the Golden Sycamore District, and was a detached house, surrounded by gardens and lawns at the front and back, with stables, a fountain, and wide roads made of concrete.
Klein put on his fedora with the police coat of arms and followed Inspector Toller through the virtual cordon, entering the front door of the small two-story building under the watchful eyes of one of the officers.
In the living room area, four trainee inspectors, two men and two women, were talking to each of them to gather confessions.
At a glance, Klein spotted a number of gentlemen in tuxedos, as well as a couple of ladies with long, flamboyant court dresses and fine checkered black veils covering their faces.
”They are all guests who spent the night here last night.” Toller explained, leading Klein toward the steps and straight to the second floor.
Along the way, perhaps it was the effect of the inspector’s shoulder badge, the police officers who searched the house showed respect when they saw the two of them, and did not stop them in the slightest.
”This is the guest room where Senator Maynard’s body was found.” The tall and lanky body of Toller stopped in front of a dark red wooden door.
Klein asked thoughtfully:
”Who did this guest room belong to last night?”
”It didn’t belong to anyone, there are too many guest bedrooms in this house for it to have come in handy.” Toller put on his white gloves and reached out to unscrew the dark red wooden door.
He motioned for the constable on guard duty inside to leave for the moment and nodded to Klein:
”Inspector Moretti, I’ll leave the rest to you.”
”May the Goddess bless you and me, and I hope it will be rewarding.” Klein put on his white gloves as well and unlocked the door to his room.
He paced to the bedside and looked at the dark red sheets unusually messy while a body covered with a white cloth lay on top.
Klein, now a man who had seen the world, did not flinch as he pulled back the white cloth and looked over at Councilman Maynard.
The gentleman was in his mid-forties, his blonde hair cut short, and an expression of pain mixed with pleasure lingered on his face.
Klein took two steps back, took out the appropriate materials, and quickly made the pre-preparations for the séance.
After a few incantations, he mumbled out a long thought out divination statement in the serene, ethereal scent and the chilly wind that surrounded himself:
”The cause of Senator Maynard’s death.”
”The cause of Senator Maynard’s death.”
……
While reciting silently, Klein backed up to the high-backed chair and slowly sat down.
His eyes turned black as he leaned back and flew into a deep sleep.
In the illusory, disorienting and hazy world, he suddenly saw the gentleman from earlier.
Maynard’s azure eyes were wide open, and he was on top of an outstandingly fit and fair-skinned lady rutting with all his might.
He first showed a look of extreme satisfaction and extreme pleasure, then violently withdrew his right hand and pressed it against his chest, his expression then twisting into a grimace.
Snap!
As Maynard fell, the image quickly shattered, and Klein opened his eyes, waking up from his dream.
I didn t think I would be able to watch a little dirty movie …… this way for once So, Senator Maynard died in a bed of cheating and died from too much work? Klein let out a low chuckle and rubbed the corner of his forehead.
He took out a pen and paper and, using the ritual again, sketched the lady he had seen in his dream, omitted from the neck down, of course.
It was a woman whose age was hard to tell, she had the mature flavor of her thirties and the residual innocence of her youth, her eyes were moist and glossy, giving her a feeling of pity.
Glancing at his “own” work, Klein gathered the ritual materials and lifted the wall of spirituality.
He turned his body sideways and reached for the silver-encrusted black staff leaning against his side.
Suddenly, he heard the sound of a ho-ho-ho hovering in his throat, causing goosebumps to instantly rise on the surface of his skin!
Klein jerked his head toward the bed, only to see Senator Maynard’s hands clutching the dark red sheets, gripping the backs of his palms so hard that they were black and blue.
With a brush, the congressman, who had died between nine and eleven o’clock last night, sat up, saliva dripping from the corners of his mouth, his eyes hollow and open.