Those eyes were bloodshot, filled with uncontrollable madness and fear. Even if the gatekeeper's words soothed the woman's spirit and woke her up from the brink of collapse, they could not completely heal the lingering fear in her mind. shadow.
Agatha had seen this kind of look many times, so she just looked at him calmly, and after using her eyes to calm the woman down further, she spoke: "The 'him' you said refers to your husband, right? ?He's back home again - but you know, he died years ago."
The woman's shoulders trembled violently. She lowered her head and grabbed her hair, as if she didn't dare to look at Agatha anymore. She just kept repeating: "He's back... He's back... ...But I know it's not him..."
"How...how did you kill it?" Agatha frowned and asked, "Do you still remember the specific process at that time?"
As she spoke, she reached out and took out a medicine bottle from her arms. After opening the bottle cap with one hand, the calming aroma in the bottle spread quietly and gradually enveloped the surroundings.
The gatekeeper's medicine took effect, and the long-haired woman on the sofa was breathing much calmer. She raised her head slightly, looked out from the gap in her hair, and said in a low voice: "I... I'm beating with a hammer from behind. The back of the thing's head, and then the thing fell down, but even though its head collapsed to such a large piece, it didn't die. Instead, it struggled to get up. I kicked it further inside and closed the bathroom door. ...it was banging inside and making scary shouts. It was early in the morning and it
I kept shouting for ten minutes before I stopped..."
The woman stopped and calmed down for a few seconds before continuing: "Later, later I secretly opened the crack of the bathroom door... and the thing disappeared..."
Agatha nodded slightly, and while replaying what happened in her mind, she asked: "Then how did it appear? Do you still remember the process of his return?"
"I...I don't know," the woman shook her head, with fear in her tone, "He...it suddenly appeared at home! The door of the house was locked, but I heard something in the living room. There was movement, and I saw that thing when I came out of the bedroom... It was wearing the clothes when my husband was buried, walking around the living room, and there was a sound like rotten mucus coming from the body..."
Agatha's expression suddenly became serious. She turned her head. Before she could speak, a guard reported from the side: "We have checked the entrance and exit of this house. There are no signs of damage to any doors or windows, and all windows have no signs of damage." All locked from the inside."
The doors and windows were closed, the door locks had not been broken, and the "fake" products appeared directly in residents' homes.
Compared to the upright "invasion" and "attack", this phenomenon that seemed to appear out of thin air... made her even more wary.
And there are more points worthy of attention in today's case.
Agatha lowered her head and looked at the woman on the sofa.
She still remembered the cases she had come across before today, especially the case discovered at No. 42 Fireplace Street - the folklorist who returned from death and the female apprentice who was severely cognitively contaminated without knowing it. In such a typical case , the surviving parties were unable to distinguish the "fake" in front of them.
But the woman in front of me could tell the difference.
Is she unaffected by cognitive contamination?
"Madam," Agatha began, choosing her words carefully, "how did you tell that 'monster' was not your husband?"
"You still need to ask? My husband...he died a few years ago. Everything about that thing is wrong. How could it be my husband?" The woman became a little excited, "What's more, what's more, what's more, that thing is heading towards My child...my child, he pointed at the monster and called him daddy, he...he was controlled by that monster, he must have been controlled by that monster, he..."
"You thought your child was controlled by a monster, so you choked him?" Agatha frowned and asked, "You know you were..."
"I didn't choke him! I just wanted to pull him back, not choke him!"
The woman became completely excited and even jumped up from the sofa, as if she wanted to pounce on the gatekeeper in front of her. Her bloodshot eyes once again returned to the fearful and crazy look before, so much so that even her sanity seemed to have evaporated. -The guards standing nearby reacted immediately and wanted to hold down the poor woman who had lost her mind, but Agatha's reaction was one step faster.
The gatekeeper raised his cane and tapped the woman's forehead gently.
The latter fell asleep instantly.
"She was frightened." The female captain with short black hair shook her head. "This kind of thing is really difficult for ordinary people..."
"No, it's not a simple fright, it's another form of intellectual pollution - she is in a temporary state of madness, but only retains the basic ability to talk." Agatha shook her head, her brows always furrowed, "She didn't Affected by cognitive and memory interference, although she does not know the specific reason, she obviously recognized the essence of the 'fake', but 'seeing through the truth itself is a kind of damage to ordinary people."
As she spoke, she raised her head and looked around the small residence.
"Where's the child?"
"He has been sent to a safe place for the time being - he was too frightened and experienced brief suffocation. He may not be able to accept questioning."
"Well," Agatha ordered, "separate the mother and son temporarily, provide care and psychological counseling, especially the child, comfort him, and report to me as soon as possible if the mother and son think of any valuable information. "
"yes."
Agatha nodded, then walked through the living room and came to the small bathroom and bathroom.
On the ground near the shower head, you can still see the marks left by the guards after collecting evidence.
The fake was once locked in this bathroom, but in the end...it only had a "sample" of less than one test tube left.
This is not normal.
Although the nature of the fakes themselves is strange and their origins are a mystery, at least one thing is clear: they are also composed of a certain amount of physical substances, and even if they disintegrate, these physical substances will not disappear out of thin air.
Agatha frowned slightly and walked around twice in the narrow bathroom. Suddenly, she stopped and stared at one place.
Located in the corner, there is a rusty sewer entrance. She quickly came to the floor drain, tapped the cast iron grating with the end of her tin cane, and looked down at the dark hole inside.
The darkness inside the sewer pipe is invisible, as if all the truth is buried.
"...No way...Damn it!" "
Agatha suddenly took a deep breath and realized a possibility, which even made her hands and feet feel a little cold.
"Evacuate this building and move all residents to the nearest neighborhood church and public shelter." She quickly returned to the living room and gave the order very quickly, "Contact the neighborhood municipal office and close this building... ....No, shut down all secondary pipes connected to this building, including sewer and water pipes - and send a team of people to the nearest sewage treatment station immediately to check the sedimentation tanks and filters!"
The squad leader was startled after hearing this series of orders, but she did not raise any questions. The instinct of obeying orders made her straighten her body immediately: "Yes! Your Excellency, gatekeeper!"
After Agatha gave the order, she came to the sleeping woman next to the sofa.
Why was this woman not affected by cognitive and memory interference, but saw through the truth of the "fake"?
Even at this time, Agatha was still very concerned about this matter.
At this moment, a guard who had been investigating clues in other rooms suddenly ran into the living room, holding something in his hand.
"Your Excellency Gatekeeper! We discovered this!"
Agatha immediately looked around and saw that what the other person was holding turned out to be a small plaster statue that looked quite old.
That was clearly the profile of the Frost Queen.
"A statue of the Mad Queen?" Other guards in the room immediately whispered, "I didn't expect there was such a thing here."
Agatha looked serious. She stepped forward and took the sideways bust, which was about ten centimeters high, and carefully observed the details on the statue.
"...It is an authentic product from that year. There is a special anti-counterfeiting mark on the bottom of the sculpture," she judged briefly and raised her head, "Where is this thing placed?"
"In a secret door deep in a closet," the guard who found the Queen's profile immediately reported, "there were also coins and commemorative books from the Queen's era found inside. It seems... someone who still secretly misses the Frost Queen. .”
Agatha didn't speak for a while, just looking at the plaster statue in her hand.
Frost Queen... Even today, half a century later, there are still citizens in the city-state who secretly commemorate the Queen. This fact itself does not surprise her.
After all, it was a glorious era, and it was a once great queen after all - just fifty years of time were not enough to erase all traces of the queen's era from the city-state. Some old people who had experienced that era , and their descendants are still deeply influenced by it.
There are sporadic supporters of the Queen among the people - fifty years ago, this kind of sneaky commemoration was enough to lead to hanging, but today, fifty years later, the ban on this aspect has actually been relaxed a lot. During her years as a gatekeeper, Agatha had heard about this more than once.
In most cases, if it is just a spontaneous act of "collecting souvenirs" among the people, today's guards and peace officers will not pursue it excessively. Sometimes they will even pretend not to see it, or just give a verbal warning.
This family only collected a bust of the Queen, a few coins and a booklet. It was not a big deal.
But thinking about the changes that had just occurred in this residence, Agatha couldn't help but think more about it.
The person involved in this incident was not affected by cognitive interference, but saw through the truth of the "fake". Could it be... related to the Queen's souvenirs here?
