THE HANGED MAN

Chapter 10 Normality

"who?"

Klein was thinking about the mysterious suicide of the original owner and the unknown dangers he might encounter. After hearing the sudden knock on the door, he subconsciously opened the drawer, took out the revolver, and asked with vigilance.

There was silence outside the door for two seconds, and a slightly shrill voice shouted in Ahova accent:

"I, Mountbatten, Beach Mountbatten."

The voice paused for a moment and then added:

"police."

Beach Mountbatten... As the name entered his ears, Klein immediately thought of its corresponding owner.

He was one of the police officers in charge of the block where the apartment was located. He was a rough, brutal, and hands-on man. However, perhaps only such a person could shock those drunkards, thieves, part-time thieves, thugs, and hooligans.

And his unique voice is one of his trademarks.

"Okay, I'll be right away!" Klein responded loudly.

He originally planned to throw the revolver back into the drawer, but he thought that the police outside came for unknown reasons and might conduct searches, so he cautiously ran to the stove where the remaining flames had long gone out and put the pistol in.

Immediately afterwards, he picked up the small basket containing coal, shook a few pieces into the furnace, covered the g*n, and finally placed the kettle on top to cover everything.

After doing all this, he arranged his clothes, quickly approached the door, opened it and said vaguely:

"Sorry, I was just taking a nap."

Standing outside the door were four police officers wearing black uniforms with white checks and soft hats with badges. Beech Mountbatten, who had a brown beard, coughed and said to Klein:

"These three police officers have something to ask you."

police officer? Klein reflexively looked at the epaulettes of the other three people, and found that two had three silver six-pointed stars, and one had two. They all looked more advanced than Beechcraft Mountbatten, who only had three V-shaped labels.

As a history student, Klein had little research on the levels of police epaulettes. He only knew that Beach Mountbatten often showed off that he was a senior police sergeant.

So, those three are inspectors? Affected by the words of his eldest brother Benson and Welch and other classmates, Klein still knew some common sense. He stepped aside, pointed to the room and said:

"Please come in. Don't know what's going on?"

The leader of the three police officers was a middle-aged man with sharp eyes that seemed to be able to see through the soul, making people unable to help but be scared. He had obvious wrinkles at the corners of his eyes and light brown hair peeking out from the brim of his hat. He looked around the room and asked in a deep voice. road:

"You know Welch McGovern, right?"

"What's wrong with him?" Klein's heart trembled and he blurted out.

"I'm asking you." The dignified middle-aged police officer's eyes were serious.

The police officer next to him who also wore a three-star epaulette looked at Klein and smiled gently:

"Don't be nervous, we are just asking as usual."

This police officer is about thirty years old, with a straight nose, and his gray eyes give people an indescribable depth, like an unvisited lake in an ancient forest.

Klein took a breath secretly, organized his words and said:

"If you are referring to Welch McGovern, a graduate of Hoy University from Conston, then I definitely know him. We are classmates and follow the same mentor, Senior Associate Professor Quentin Cohen."

In the Kingdom of Loen, "professor" is not only a professional title, but also a position, just like the professor and department chair are combined into one on Earth. In other words, a university can only have one professor per department. If an associate professor wants to become a "full-time professor" "You can only wait for your immediate boss to retire, or use your strength to squeeze the other party away.In view of the need to retain talents, after years of exploration, the Kingdom's Higher Education Commission has added senior associate professors to the three-level system of lecturers, associate professors, and professors, to provide opportunities for gentlemen and ladies with high academic standards or senior enough qualifications, but who are unable to become professors. them.

Having said this, Klein looked into the eyes of the middle-aged police officer, considered for a second and said:

"Honestly, our relationship is pretty good. During this time, he and I, as well as Naya, met often to interpret and discuss the 'Quaternary' documents he obtained, a notebook, police officer, what happened to him ?”

The middle-aged police officer did not answer, but glanced sideways at his gray-eyed companion.

The gray-eyed police officer with ordinary facial features, wearing a badge and soft hat, replied gently:

"I'm sorry to say Mr. Welch has passed away."

"How could it be?" Although he had some premonitions, Klein couldn't help but scream in surprise.

Welch also died like the original owner of the body?

This is a bit scary!

"What about Naya?" Klein hurriedly asked.

"Ms. Naya also passed away." The gray-eyed police officer said calmly, "The two of them died in Mr. Welch's residence."

"Killed?" Klein had a vague guess.

Maybe suicide...

The gray-eyed police officer shook his head:

"No, judging from the traces at the scene, they committed suicide. Mr. Welch hit his head against the wall many times, causing blood all over the wall. Ms. Naya drowned herself in a basin, well, with The kind that comes to wash your face.”

"This is impossible..." Klein's hair stood on end as he seemed to be able to imagine the weird scene.

The girl knelt on the chair and buried her face in the washbasin filled with water. Her brown hair was draped down softly and swaying in the wind, but her whole body remained motionless. Welch fell to the ground, staring at the ceiling with his eyes fixed on his forehead. It was completely shattered and covered in blood, and the walls were hit with marks one after another, dripping with blood...

The gray-eyed police officer moved his lips and said:

"We think so too, but the autopsy results and the scene conditions have ruled out factors such as drugs and external force. They, I mean Mr. Welch and Ms. Naya, showed no signs of resistance."

Before Klein could speak again, he walked into the room and asked casually:

"When was the last time you saw Mr. Welch or Ms. Naya?"

As he spoke, he gestured with his eyes to his companion who had two silver stars.

He was a young police officer who looked about the same size as Klein. He had black temples and green eyes. He had good looks and had the romantic temperament of a poet.

Upon hearing the question, Klein's thoughts began to change and he thought about his answer:

"It should be June 26th. We jointly interpreted the contents of a new note. After that, I went home to prepare for the interview on the 30th. Well, the interview at the History Department of Tingen University."

Tingen is known as the city of universities. It has two universities, Tingen and Hoy, as well as a technical school, a barrister's college, and a business school. It is second only to the capital Backlund.

As soon as he finished speaking, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the young police officer walking to the desk and picking up the "notes" that looked more like a diary.

Oops! Forgot to hide it! Klein shouted briefly: "You!"

The young police officer smiled back at him, but did not stop flipping through his notes. The gray-eyed police officer explained:

"This is a necessary procedure."

At this time, Beach Mountbatten and the dignified middle-aged police officer were just watching, without interrupting or assisting in the search.

Where's your search warrant? Klein originally planned to ask this question, but after thinking about it carefully, it seemed that the judicial system of the Kingdom of Loen had not yet evolved such a thing as a search warrant, at least he didn't know if there was one. After all, even the police force had only been established for fifteen or sixteen years.

When the original owner was a child, he was still called the Sheriff.

Klein couldn't stop him and watched the young police officer quickly flip through "his notes" while the gray-eyed police officer didn't ask any more questions.

"What weird thing?" The young police officer turned to the end and suddenly said, "Also, what does this sentence mean? 'Everyone will die, including me'..."

Isn’t it common sense that everyone will die except the gods? Klein was originally going to quibble, but suddenly he thought that he had originally planned to "get on the line" with the police to guard against possible dangers, but he just had no reason or excuse.

In less than a second, he made a decision, covered his forehead with his hands, and answered with pain:

"I don't know, I really don't know... After I woke up this morning, I felt like something was wrong with me. I seemed to have forgotten some things, especially what happened in the past few days. I don't even know why I wrote such a sentence. "

Sometimes, frankness is the best way to solve problems. Of course, frankness requires skills. What can and cannot be said is one aspect, and what should be said first and what should be said later and how to say it is another aspect.

As a "keyboard" expert, Klein has also studied a little bit of speaking skills.

"Absurd! Do you think we are fools?" Beach Mountbatten interrupted angrily. He couldn't help it anymore.

This lie was so clumsy that it almost insulted the intelligence of myself and others!

It's better for you to pretend to be mentally ill than to pretend to have amnesia!

"Really." Klein responded to the gazes of Mountbatten and the middle-aged police officer calmly.

This really cannot be true anymore.

"Maybe it's possible." At this time, the gray-eyed police officer spoke slowly.

What? Do you believe this? Klein himself was surprised.

The gray-eyed police officer looked at him with a smile and said:

"An expert will be here in two days. Trust me, she should be able to help you recall your lost memories."

expert? Help with recall? In the field of psychology? Klein frowned.

Hiss, what if this brings out my memory of Earth? He suddenly felt a toothache.

The young police officer put down his notes and searched the desk and room. Fortunately, he focused on the books and did not lift the kettle to take a look.

"Okay, Mr. Klein, thank you for your cooperation. You'd better not leave Tingen in the past few days. If you must, please notify Officer Mountbatten, otherwise you will become a fugitive." The gray-eyed officer finally warned.

Is this the end? Is it over today? No more questions and more investigation? Or take me back to the police station and t*****e me? Klein was confused for a while.

However, he also wanted to solve the strange incident caused by Welch, so he nodded and said:

"no problem."

The police officers exited the room one by one, and the young man walking at the end suddenly patted Klein on the shoulder:

"It's great, very lucky."

"What?" Klein looked confused.

The green-eyed police officer with a poetic temperament smiled slightly and said:

"Generally speaking, when encountering such an incident, it is normal for all those involved to die."

"We are happy and lucky to see you alive."

After saying that, he walked out of the room and closed the door politely.

Is it normal for everyone to die? Glad I'm alive? Lucky to be alive?

On this June afternoon, Klein felt chills all over his body.