"No one can defend you, Hobson. Blasphemy is the height of mortal sin, and you care nothing about it," said Agatha. "You have no right to call me that here."
"Gods don't have eyesight." The prisoner replied, "I just offended the Gaia Church. If Lucia or Heather knew about my behavior, maybe they would give me a gift."
"Your behavior is neither just nor merciful. Except for Suvieria, I don't think any god would be willing to cast his gaze on you."
"Everyone knows that Bowman is a villain, sir. I'm helping you. To eliminate evil is to do good. Maybe I am showing my merits to Gaia in front of him." Hobson said with a self-deprecating tone. "The believers who serve the gods are unwilling to acknowledge my achievements."
"They want to take your skin off."
"Torturing prisoners on death row is inconsistent with Gaia's teachings."
"Heretics are the exception."
Hobson was silent for a moment, "That's why I came to the Sheriff's Department to turn myself in instead of going to church."
It also allows you to find an excuse to talk nonsense. "I have to tell you the truth, the Public Security Bureau does not treat all faiths equally. The officer who kindly poured me coffee happens to be a Gaia believer. But I am an unbeliever, so your skin is temporarily saved." Agatha pushed. Drinking from an empty cup, "Let's get down to business: why did you surrender?"
"Of course I suddenly felt guilty." The gambler licked his lips, and an uncontrollable smile spread across his hateful face.
Agatha remained calm and picked up the pen and paper left by the recorder. "You heard about Lady Bertha's death and were redeemed in your grief." She said as she wrote, the tip of her pen swishing.
The corners of Hobson's mouth twitched. "Don't mention that woman to me."
"It's not that you don't love your sister, she is the only person who is still willing to help you when you are hopelessly depraved." The detective continued, "She endured your husband's scolding for you, and she also followed you without reservation. You share her secret.”
"She's a stupid, stupid woman! What I do has nothing to do with her."
"Lady Bertha was a devout believer. After her death, you realized that her soul may be wandering in the divine kingdom of Gaia, and what you did was blasphemous, so you regretted it."
A sneer spread across the prisoner's face. "I've never seen anything stupid like this happen."
"Conscience exists in everyone's heart." Agatha remained unmoved, as if she was facing a child who was telling the truth. "You have been inspired by Him and are willing to die to atone for your sins." She blinked and finished writing this sentence carefully. "Please sign at the back."
"Are you crazy?" the prisoner asked in disbelief.
"Just going through the process." The detective shrugged, "I think the church would be happy to pronounce your crime according to the scriptures, so I left a blank for them." She thought she was very considerate. "Your sins will be written by the priest, so all you have to do is sign. It couldn't be easier."
"Miss Agatha Poirot, Queen of Detectives, your way of solving cases really opened my eyes."
"I'm honored that you have heard my name." She paused, "This saves me the time to introduce myself. Do you have anything else to say? If not, please sign here."
The prisoner's sullen green eyes stared at her, and the air seemed to thicken. The shackles on his hand immediately flashed with a magical glow. In fact, even if he did break free, Agatha could beat him until he couldn't resist. That's how I hope things go.
"Sign it," she emphasized. "You've been dawdling for too long. Commander Johnny can stay with you until dawn, but I won't do it. It will damage my reputation."
"It makes me sick to admit this stuff." Hobson moved the paper with his hand, picked up the pen and scribbled on it. "Besides, I can't write at all." He tried to throw the quill back into the inkwell, but failed. Ink stains spread all over the table. "Sorry, I should have aimed at your water glass."
"Pressing fingerprints will do." The detective was not discouraged. It seemed that the prisoner was beginning to regret not knocking over the ink bottle as well.
He simply sneered and remained motionless. "This kind of trick is disgusting. I will not leave any personal traces on any paperwork or paper. Listen, you can take my head, but you can't make me admit that there are two suns in the sky." His tone was contemptuous. Implied determination.
"The reason is obvious. 'The donkey only goes to the ice once,'" said the detective. "I saw the IOU you signed."
"If you have looked for Gardner, you should know where that thing came from."
"I'm talking about another IOU, which was magically restored in the fireplace of Verner's house." Agatha noticed that Hobson's face suddenly became very ugly. "Bowman can't write either, but he actually came up with such an idea... It can only be because he has seen your 'sample' of IOU."
"So what?" His expression changed constantly, and finally stayed at a terrifying and gloomy look. But he still didn't move. "I will not acknowledge what you wrote."
"You have to sign sooner or later."
Hobson's face clearly said: I don't want to, what can you do?
"Do you really think I don't know your plans?"
"I have nothing to plan for," said the prisoner. "I am going to die, to be decapitated on the execution ground by the cross knight's sword. Maybe it will be an ax instead, if the church decides to show their mercy to the goddess on Penance Day."
The success rate of decapitation is higher in this way, and he still cares about his execution treatment. "You won't sign the confession that Chief Johnny gave you because he represents the Sheriff's Department. You won't sign the confession that I wrote for you because it's not true." Agatha threw the paper on the ground, stood up and sat on the edge of the table. . She looked down at the difficult criminal: "You are neither willing to give credit to the Sheriff's Department, nor are you willing to be charged with more crimes by the church - then Mr. Hobson, why do you want to surrender? "
"Maybe it's for justice. To be honest, no matter how much I die, it's better than you, a bunch of hypocritical and narrow-minded shameless people." This guy actually has a kind of arrogance, as if he is morally superior to the public security bureau who is competing for credit. and Luo Zhi's crime on top of the church.
"That's enough." Agatha told him to shut up, "Even if I give you a detailed confession, you will find reasons not to sign it. Because you are not surrendering yourself at all -"
The Detective Queen narrowed her eyes. The excitement in her gray pupils was not the excitement of finding the truth, but a confident and calm detachment.
Hobson ducked back unconsciously, as if her gaze might bite. At this moment, he felt like a piece of moss exposed to the sun.
"You are stalling for time, so you are trying your best not to cooperate."
"Then you are cooperating with me. Do you think I am afraid of death?" the prisoner asked.
"For a sinner like you, death is not scary. Maybe you are afraid of being tortured before death."
The criminal is completely relaxed. "There are some lunatics in the church." He seemed to be more honest. "If possible, I would rather spend tonight in the dungeon."
"Not to be delivered to the Church Crusaders. Is this your last request?"
He hesitated for a moment. "I have no right to ask for anything." It seems that he still knows how evil his actions are, Agatha thought to herself. "However, for the sake of Gaia, I surrender." He spoke in a sincere tone for the first time. A dark color gradually faded from his face, and his thick beard trembled. "I surrender." He emphasized. "I deserve to die... There is no way that a condemned prisoner could surrender... Gaia, I just want to die."
Agatha watched him, her eyes red with excitement, and she made incoherent pleas. I have prayed thousands of times that every criminal will have such a moment - not being punished due to the mandatory execution of the law, but that they should have such a moment - to repent for the sake of their own conscience and desire to atone for their sins. Agatha Poirot is not a qualified patrol officer because she prefers to look at right and wrong from a human standpoint. If the gods are above, I only believe that criminals with this kind of consciousness can truly be redeemed in punishment.
"Stop your show, Hobson." The Detective Queen stood up. "You didn't turn yourself in at all. I'm not as easily deceived as anyone you've ever met before. I know your plan: to spend the night in the Sheriff's Department dungeon. But you're not doing this out of remorse, you're doing it just to stay. Here. Your surrender is an excuse, just like the weaker party in a fight always admits his mistake first: rather than admitting his mistake, they want a third party to intervene to stop the situation from getting worse. Why is this? "
The prisoner's whole body tensed up.
"Because they want to be protected."
She sighed rather regretfully. "Our men can't find a trace of you, not even your accomplices - oh, yes, we've seen him, and that poor Sergeant Witek Shazo - but someone can. It shows that you are fully prepared for the patrol's search...but there is always someone you can't hide no matter how much preparation you make. As long as he finds you, things will not be good." Wittek appeared in Agatha's mind Someone I saw at the dinner, the murderer of the priest. Not sure yet, she told herself. I need more solid evidence.
But Hobson didn't need proof; he was sure of the truth of her deductions. "This is complete nonsense." The criminal emphasized in a sinister voice. The shackles on his body flickered more frequently.
"You are not a smart man, Mr. Hobson. You just have extreme ideas and look at things from a slightly different perspective than normal people." Agatha gave him a verdict. "A smart person would not hang a corpse in a church to provoke the church. Even if it is necessary, it would be foolish to drain his blood to blame others." She walked around the long table. "You are so smart, sir. Originally, it was not so easy for us to discover the secrets you wanted to hide. The lack of knowledge of things is too fatal. You simply brought the flaw right in front of our eyes."
Hobson frowned and said nothing.
"In order to deal with them, you racked your brains to come up with a way. Yes, I guessed it, and it was effortless." Miss Poirot did not pay attention to the prisoner's expression. She said confidently: "You plan to seek protection from the Sheriff's Bureau. .”
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