Volume VII The Inverted Man Chapter 65 The Helping Hand
Wendell, who was no stranger to murder, was not alarmed at the sound of the words, and rather calmly let his eyes pass over the woman in the doorway and plunge into the interior of the room.
He whirled around to see a man collapsed on the floor, and saw that the other’s chest was red with blood.
”Sure it’s dead?” Wendell asked a question calmly.
The young lady in her twenties was at first bewildered, then replied with less certainty:
”I think …… I don’t know ……”
”If there’s any salvation, it needs to be taken to the hospital immediately.” Wendell’s tone was as if he were speaking to the patient’s family, not a murderer.
The lady holding the blood dripping dagger subconsciously sidestepped her body and stepped out of the way.
Wendel took a few steps forward and approached the victim.
He didn’t need to crouch down, he just swept his eyes and made a judgment from all the signs:
”Dead indeed.”
The woman in her mid-twenties with long flaxen hair that was slightly disheveled didn’t visibly change her expression and looked down at her toes as she said:
”You call the police.”
”How do I address it?” Wendell had heard hurried footsteps coming up the stairs.
Obviously, it was a waiter or innkeeper who had heard the screams and come up to check out the commotion.
”Tracy ……,” replied the young lady, who was both wild and innocent, in a low voice.
She then fell into a world of her own and didn’t say another word.
Wendell was about to say something when the innkeeper who had checked him in earlier had rushed to the door.
”Goddess!” This aged old man couldn’t help but shout out after seeing the situation inside the room clearly.
Wendel pressed down with his right hand, signaling the other party to calm down, then said:
”You go to the police immediately, I’ll keep an eye on this place.”
His temperament his words had its own kind of feeling that made people trust and obey, the innkeeper didn’t shiver at all, and immediately turned his body around and ran downstairs.
As far as Wendell was concerned, initially coming over to check out the commotion was just out of a gentleman’s habit, in fact, there was absolutely no idea of getting deeply involved, after all, he was still tasked with the mission, but Miss Tracy’s kind of bewildered, detached, and forcibly cold attitude caused him to have some compassionate emotions. It was a normal reaction for a male.
He looked around the room and said as if he were talking to the air:
”Murder doesn’t always come with a heavy sentence, it comes in many varieties.”
Slowly, Tracy raised her head and turned her gaze to the gentleman.
There was an indefinable glow within her seemingly dead and confused eyes.
Wendell glanced at her face with its bruises:
”He assaulted you?”
”Uh-huh.” The other party seemed to have some kind of authority, making Tracy, who wanted to remain silent, finally answer.
Wendell’s gaze moved down to the dagger that was no longer dripping blood:
”Did you bring it here, or did he?”
Tracy responded with a slightly delayed response:
”Him.”
Wendel nodded slightly:
”Justifiable defense is in accordance with the law, and I can prove to the police that you were engaged in a heated argument beforehand and a fight broke out, and it is clear that men have a natural advantage in that regard. I’m not discriminating against women, but science and experience tell us so.”
He paused to ask:
”What exactly was the relationship between you and what happened?”
Tracy’s eyes twitched a little, recovering a bit from that state of deep self-absorption and withdrawal from reality.
As if answering Mr. Policeman’s question, she said with a hint of hope and sadness in her eyes:
”I was, heh, I was his mistress.”
A self-deprecating smile crossed Tracy’s face as she said this:
”I was once an ugly woman who chased money to the point of losing her mind, and not long after leaving grammar school, I was seduced by him and became his mistress.”
”He gave me a hotel to stay at over there and wait weekly for his arrival or summons.”
”I gradually lost interest in this life, I became more and more depressed and inferior, I wanted to give everything back to him and get rid of him once and for all, but he didn’t agree, he threatened me in every way possible to keep me from leaving him, and our last few encounters have been spent in arguments.”
”Just now, he said there was only one way to leave him, and that was death, then he assaulted me and took out his dagger, and then, you know all about what happened after that ……”
Mistress …… Wendell regretfully and regretfully swept Tracy’s face and said:
”The traces at the scene also initially proved what happened.”
He originally thought that Tracy and the deceased were husband and wife, who knew that the relationship was even more unsavory than he had imagined.
Tracy nodded her head woodenly and said:
”Thanks.”
She didn’t say another word until Utopia’s police arrived, only then did she break the silence and voluntarily raised her hands and accepted the handcuffs.
Wendell glanced at Tracy’s slightly staggering pace and said to the police officer:
”Let’s take her to get her injuries examined and treated first to avoid any accidents.”
The policemen didn’t know why they had to listen to a witness’s order, in any case, without any objection, they led Tracy, with Wendell in tow, through the clattering and incessant rain, to the modest hospital within the town.
Because Tracy was a woman, Wendell and the two policemen waited in the hospital corridor and did not follow her inside.
As time passed, Wendell saw a pregnant woman being rushed into labor and delivery, as if something was wrong and she needed surgical help.
After a while, he heard the sound of a baby crying, the announcement of a new life coming into the world, and at that moment, Tracy happened to come out.
”Feel that? The beauty of life.” Wendell spoke earnestly to Tracy.
Trixie listened sideways to the sound of a baby’s cry interspersed with the sound of the wind and rain, and her expression was visibly touched.
Her face had been scrubbed and appeared pristine.
After a few seconds, Tracy came back to her senses and nodded to Wendell, saying again:
”Thanks.”
This time, she was no longer so wooden, dull, and self-absorbed.
Secretly relieved, Wendell followed to the police station and took a statement.
After doing what he had to do, Wendell walked down the street, ready to take a hired carriage back to the Iris Hotel.
However, in this stormy night, there was not a single pedestrian or carriage in sight.
”This is the bad thing about small towns, they are not convenient enough.” Wendell whispered, opened the umbrella he brought with him when he left the house, identified the direction, and returned to the “Iris” hotel.
As a former “magistrate”, he had the ability to memorize the routes he traveled in the occult sense, so he didn’t worry about getting lost in the unfamiliar small town.
At this time, the rainstorm had subsided a lot, but the wind was still raging, and they blew by in a gust, carrying the rainwater and slapping it diagonally on Wendell’s body.
This made Wendel unable to resist raising his right hand and blocking it between his chest and abdomen.
That classified document was hidden on the inside of the clothing in that position.
–Wendel had previously stored the document close to his body even when he slept, not allowing it to be separated from himself, and for that reason, he had gotten into the habit of not turning over after falling asleep as long as he had the appropriate self-reminder in advance.
Utopia was a small town, and Wendell had been walking for nearly a quarter of an hour when he came in sight of the Hotel Iris, and by this time his hat and clothes were a little drenched by the wind.
He was a little worried about the water-soaked confidential documents, which he feared would be damaged.
Technically speaking, I’ve already violated the code of conduct in the line of duty, but how can I not offer my assistance when faced with a young lady like that? This is a gentleman should have the cultivation …… Wendel slightly chagrined, but not at all regret.
After entering the room, he immediately took off his jacket, took out the document, and placed it on the table.
The paper bag on the outside of the document already had obvious signs of infiltration, and several places seemed to break with the slightest forceful touch.
Wendell at once rang the bell and summoned the waiter, asking him for a coal stove, hoping thereby to warm the room and hasten the air-drying of the sealed paper bag.
As he waited, he noticed that there was no sense of late-night quietness around him at all, as if the previous screams and the doorsteps of the police had awakened the occupants of the place and the neighborhood and had not yet resumed their sleep.
The howling gale had abated considerably, and Wendell heard the cries of children, the quarrels of husbands and wives, the sound of sawing violins, intermittent sobbing, the footsteps going back and forth upstairs, and the discussion of voices sometimes suppressed and sometimes forgetting to control them, over the sound of the dripping rain.
He didn’t feel nostalgic for the life-affirming scene, only that they were noisy and prevented him from calming down.
After a while, the waiter brought in the coals that had been added to the fire.
Wendell relaxed a bit and asked casually:
”That Miss Tracy just now, do you recognize her?”
The thin-framed waiter shook his head:
”No.”
He then added:
”I’ve heard that she is indeed a local, but I’ve been living on a plantation outside of town until this year.”
”What do you know about her?” Wendell subconsciously followed up.
”She comes to our inn three to five times a month, with the man who died.” The waiter sighed suddenly, “She’s not happy at all.”
Wendell was silent for a few seconds, dismissing the waiter and sitting back down at the table.
Time ticked by as the bag outside the classified documents gradually dried out.
By now, the hotel had become quieter both inside and outside, with only the ticking sound of the rain falling to the ground and the sound of the wind presented by the rattling of the windows echoing intermittently.
The refreshed Wendell, while recalling all the previous events and sighing over Ms. Tracy’s life, lifted the document bag and turned it over on one side.
Just at this time, he realized that the part of the document bag that was covered underneath appeared a little broken, vaguely revealing the paper inside.
Wendell frowned for a moment, knowing that he was about to be disciplined.
Of course, the disciplinary action wouldn’t be too severe, as the documents wouldn’t have been escorted by him alone if the need for secrecy was high enough.
Wendel had intended to remain current and show the breakage to the handover party as well, but, between sweeps of his gaze, he saw a single word on the document through the broken hole:
”Utopia.”
Wendel’s spirit tensed, only to feel the wind and rain outside stop abruptly.