Part 1 – The Joker Chapter 92 – “The Psychologist”
”Mass hysteria?” Sir Devereux, who had also come into contact with a number of psychologists during this time, chewed on the term given by Klein.
His butler, his bodyguard, and his servants did not make a single sound without his permission, even if they were curious in their minds.
It was Sheriff Galt, on the contrary, who looked at Klein quizzically, with the look of having never heard of a similar concept.
Controlling the inertia of tapping his fingers on the arm of the couch, Klein explained in a soothing, low voice:
”Humans are creatures who are very easily deceived by their own senses, and group hysteria is a psychosomatic problem caused by mental tension and other factors interacting within the same group.”
His flurry of specialized vocabulary caused Sir Devereux, Sheriff Galt, and the others to be confused for a moment, and subconsciously chose to believe it.
”I’ll give you a simple example, it’s a case I once handled, a certain gentleman had a dinner party, invited thirty-five guests in total, during the dinner party he suddenly felt nauseous and vomited on the spot, followed by severe diarrhea, once, twice, three times, he began to think he had food poisoning, and while heading to the hospital, he told his guests about this speculation .”
”Over the next two hours, more than thirty of the thirty-five guests had diarrhea and twenty-six experienced vomiting, and they filled the hospital’s emergency room.”
”Doctors examined and compared them in detail, and concluded that the gentleman was not initially poisoned, and that the cause was an inflammation of the stomach and intestines caused by a combination of the change in weather and the cold spirits.”
”And what was most surprising was that not only were none of those guests who came to the hospital poisoned, but none of them were even really sick.”
”It was mass hysteria.”
Devereux nodded slightly in admiration:
”I see, humans do lie to themselves easily, no wonder Roselle the Great said that a lie repeated a hundred times becomes the truth.”
”Officer, what should I call you? You are the most professional psychiatrist I have ever seen.”
”Inspector Moretti.” Klein pointed to his epaulette and said, “Sir, your distress has been initially resolved, you can try to sleep now and let me make sure there is nothing else wrong. If you can have a good night’s sleep, allow us to take our leave early and not wait for you to wake up.”
”Okay.” Devereux rubbed his forehead, grabbed his cane, and took a step up the stairs and into his bedroom.
Half an hour later, the carriage with the police coat of arms pulled away from the fountain in front of Lord Deville.
Only when Sergeant Gaiter got out midway and returned to the police station to which he belonged did Inspector Toller look over at Klein and say, half in compliment and half in jest:
”I can’t believe I just thought you were a real psychologist ……”
He didn’t finish his sentence as he saw that the young man across from him wearing a white checkered uniform on a black background barely showed any expression, his eyes dark and deep, the corners of his mouth barely tugging upwards as he said:
”I’ve just had some previous contact.”
Inspector Toller was quiet until the carriage pulled up outside 36 Zotland Street.
”Thank you for your help in getting Sir Devereux out of his troubles and back to sleep at last.” He held out his hand and shook Crane’s, “Say thank you to Dunn for me.”
Klein nodded gently:
”Good.”
He took the stairs, one step at a time, back to Blackthorn Security and knocked on the door and entered the captain’s office.
”Solved?” Dunn was waiting for his own lunch.
”Solved.” Klein rubbed his forehead and said succinctly and truthfully, “The root of the problem lies in the lead-making and china factories under Sir Devereux’s name, which have seen too many lead poisoning deaths since they were established, and each time, Sir Devereux reaps a little bit of the residual spirituality turned into resentment.”
”Normally, these don’t cause major problems, at most they make people love nightmares.” Dunn had handled similar cases and was quite experienced.
Klein nodded slightly:
”Yes, the trajectory of things was supposed to go like that, but unfortunately, Sir Devereux met a lead-poisoned workwoman in the street one day, who just happened to fall down beside the road, and also just happened to see the Devereux family coat of arms, while at the same time, she had strong feelings of resentment, apprehension, and thirst, until Sir Devereux gave a compensation of 300 pounds to her parents, brother, and sister, and these emotions only dissipated.”
”It’s a social problem, not uncommon in this age of steam and machinery.” Dunn took out his pipe, took a sniff, and sighed, “Workers who make linen, because they wet the material, and by extension themselves, commonly suffer from bronchitis and arthritis, and in dusty factories, lung problems accumulate, if not poisonings. …… Phew, we don’t have to discuss All of this, as the kingdom grows, I’m sure it will be resolved, Klein, tonight, tonight we’ll find a restaurant and celebrate you becoming a full member of the team?”
Klein thought for a moment and said:
”Tomorrow night,…… Captain, I have used my psychic vision for too long today, and with the help of the ‘dream divination’ technique I have directly communicated with those grievances, I feel very tired, I wish to go home this afternoon, and have a good rest. Is that okay? Well, I’ll make a trip to the Divination Club at four or five to observe the members’ reactions to the sudden death of Hainus Vanzant.”
”No problem, it’s the right thing to do.” Dunn grinned, “Tomorrow night then, next door to the Old Vale Restaurant, I’ll have Roxanne make a reservation.”
Klein stood up with his police fedora and saluted:
”Thank you, Captain, see you tomorrow.”
Dunn raised his hand and said:
”Wait a minute, did you just say that Sir De Vere gave a sum of three hundred pounds in compensation to the working girl’s parents?”
”Yes.” Crane had just nodded his head when he realized what the captain meant when he called out to him, “You’re worried that they’ll meet their doom because of this fortune?”
Dunn sighed:
”I’ve seen a lot of things like that, give me their address and I’ll have Kornleigh arrange for them to leave Tingen, go to another city, and start a new life.”
”Okay.” Klein replied in a hushed voice.
After doing so, he left Dunn’s room and entered the lounge diagonally across the hall, changing into his original set of formal attire, leaving his police uniform in the compartment of the closet that belonged to him.
Riding in the public carriage, Crane silently and staggeringly made his way back to Daffodil Street, took off his coat, removed his hat, found last night’s leftovers, warmed them up, and filled his stomach with the last of the oatmeal bread.
Then he climbed up to the second floor, hung up his clothes, and fell headlong into bed.
When he awoke, his pocket watch had gone to ten minutes past two in the afternoon, and outside the sun was blazing high, its rays shining through the clouds.
In this brilliant gold, Klein stood beside his desk and looked out of the convex belly window at the pedestrians whose clothes were old and tattered, and who were either entering or leaving Iron Cross Street.
Hoo …… he exhaled slowly, finally shaking off the doldrums.
The road had to be taken one step at a time, the sequence had to be lifted one layer at a time, as it had to be with anything.
He shook his head and sat down, beginning to summarize and sort out last week’s encounters, reviewing the highlights he had previously kept in mind, lest there be forgetfulness and omissions.
Two fifty-five.
Above the blurry, sprawling, gray, empty mist, a lofty, grand temple stood tall, with a long, ancient, mottled bronze table resting quietly.
And the high-backed chair at the very top of the long table was already seated with a man covered in a dense gray fog.
Klein back against the back of the chair, silent thought for a while, and suddenly reached out to imaginary point symbolizing “justice” and “hanging man” of the crimson star.
……
BECKLAND, Queens.
Audrey was walking towards her bedroom with the hem of her dress in her hand.
Suddenly, she felt something, looked sideways into the shadows of the balcony, and was surprised to see Suzie, a large golden retriever, crouching quietly and watching.
Audrey sighed silently and drew a Crimson Moon on her chest, then leaned over and looked down condescendingly at the big golden furred dog:
”Susie, that’s not right, you’re being voyeuristic, and ‘viewers’ need to be in their place to watch with honor.”
The big blonde dog looked up at his master and wagged his tail cooperatively.
After a few moments of rambling, Audrey didn’t dare delay and retraced her steps to the bedroom.
In the seconds it took to open and close the door, a strange thought suddenly struck her:
”I wonder if Mr. Fool can get Susie to enter that mysterious space as well, which would make four members of our Tarot Society! And one hundred percent of them are extraordinary!”
”No, Susie can’t even talk, what if we let it make comments and exchange ideas? Woof woof woof? Ow ow ow? Bah, why would I want to learn a dog’s bark here ……”
”Such a scene feels very strange just imagining it …… Dogs barking out of nowhere in a mysterious and serious gathering …… Mr. Fool would surely just kick us out of the Tarot Club… …”
Audrey unlocked the door to her room, walked over to the edge of her bed and sat down, removing a page of tawny, aged paper from under her pillow.
She read it several times over and began to put herself in the “audience” state.
……
Somewhere in the Sunian Sea, the old sailing ship chasing the “Listener” has moved away from the Rothschild Islands.
”Fearing that the mechanical clock may be inaccurate, Alger Wilson enters the captain’s cabin half an hour early, lest he be seen by his men in case of an emergency.
In front of him lay a glass of almost transparent spirits, the rich aroma of which reached his nostrils in a single whiff.
Once again, Alger shuddered slightly at the thought of the party that was about to begin, of the infinite gray fog that had presented itself to him in the corridor of the inn, and of the mysterious Fool who sat in the center of it.
He picked up his glass of wine and downed it in one gulp, easing the feelings in his heart with a searing line of fire that burned his throat.
Soon, he regained his composure, still as calm and collected as ever.