After bringing the information back to the car, Dean discussed the case with Holden.
"I have some impression of this case. The fourth team, Gerrich, is in charge and no outsiders are allowed to intervene. However, the case is relatively clear and there is little chance of Joan overturning the case." Holden sat up straight and straightened his face, "You have to accept it. , are there supernatural factors involved?"
"You'll know then."
Dean drove all the way south and got off at Strip Avenue. He soon found the Gowan Hotel where Jayne Harden was killed on a long street lined with hotels.
When he reached the door of the hotel, Dean paused and glanced at the street lamp against the wall.
A middle-aged man with a truck hat, a white vest, and a cigarette in his mouth was entangled with a well-dressed lady in a blue blouse and suit skirt.
The lady appears to be in her thirties or forties, with thick red hair, a tall and graceful figure, and beautiful facial features.
At this time, she was forced into a corner, her face with light makeup was nervous and frightened.
"Isn't this Rust's mother Grace?"
"Back off, stay away from this lady, I'm going to call the police!" Dean shouted, approaching from behind, his strong body full of intimidation.
"Man, why are you so excited?" The man with the scar on the bridge of his nose turned around and glanced at the two people's faces like a mouse. He spread his hands and said with a playful smile, "I didn't hurt this lady at all. She and I are old friends. Friends chatting, right, Grace?”
The woman pursed her lips and said nothing,
Holden examined the man with sharp eyes, took out the ID in his arms and showed it, "If you don't want to go to the detention center for vacation, leave immediately."
"OK, OK, I'm a law-abiding citizen. I never cause trouble. I'll leave now." The man threw away the cigarette and stamped it out, turned around and looked at the woman again, and walked away without any delay.
"Grace, what happened just now?" Dean walked up to the frightened woman and asked with concern,
Grace thanked her, and after a quick glance, she realized that one of them was her son's classmate. She was surprised and stepped forward to hold his hand.
"Dean, I haven't seen you for a few months. You look like a different person. You've grown taller and stronger. I almost didn't recognize you."
"That guy was a guest in the hotel just now and he has been stalking me." Grace sighed, "But now I just want to work hard and earn money to send Rust to college, and I have no time to think about other things. "
"If he continues to harass you, tell me that I have some connections in the LVPD and can help you deal with it." Dean patted his chest. He would still help the elders of his good friends as much as he could.
The woman nodded and smiled,
"Where are you going?"
"A murder occurred in this hotel not long ago, and we are here to investigate." Dean glanced at Grace's standard hotel work clothes, "You work there?"
The woman nodded, "I remember that the COP came to check last week. They confirmed that after the investigation was completed, the hotel cleaned the murder room from inside to outside, and the entire second floor where the room was located was sealed off."
"blockade?"
"Someone has just died. To avoid any adverse effects, the entire second floor will not be occupied for a short period of time." Grace smiled bitterly. It was obvious that the hotel suffered heavy losses as a result.
"Cleaning and blocking have little impact on me. As long as the room where the case occurred is still there, the clues will still be there. Can you help me, Grace?" What Dean said made Holden frown. It is completely inconsistent with the rigorous basic principles of police detectives, and has little impact.
The woman thought for a moment, nodded and smiled gently, "Follow me, but try to be careful with your movements so as not to affect the normal operation of the hotel."
The two followed Grace into the lobby, got a set of keys from the front desk, and then walked up the stairs to the second floor.
After the second floor was sealed off, the electricity was cut off, and the corridor was dim. Only a few rays of white light came in from the windows at the front and rear ends. The cool breeze blew through the corridor, like a ghost hand touching the neck, which was inexplicably cold and terrifying.
Dean looked at the dark surveillance cameras all over the ceiling.
"Can you help us find the surveillance video from last week?"
"Except for the lobby, the surveillance equipment in the hotel corridor has been broken for a long time." Grace shook her head.
"It was broken on the day of the accident?" Dean's head twitched.
"It broke over a year ago."
"Uh, you haven't found anyone to fix it for so long?"
Holden glanced at Dean, "Monitoring damage is the core competitiveness of this hotel, otherwise why would customers choose such a small place?"
Dean was thoughtful, and Grace smiled without saying a word. After a moment, she opened the door of room 2-21 where the victim lived with the key, and handed the flashlight to the two of them.
"I work in the lobby on the first floor. If you need anything, come to me."
"OK."
After watching the woman leave, Dean waved the flashlight. The dark room contained a double bed, a bedside table, a TV, a large wardrobe with shutter doors against the wall, and a separate bathroom.
Although it is only a standard room, its size is not inferior to that of an ordinary suite, which is enough for that man with unique tastes to display his "eighteen martial arts" to his heart's content.
Dean walked to the center of the room and stood at the end of the bed, turning on God's perspective. After the last upgrade, the field of vision covering a radius of twenty meters easily penetrated the entire room, including the room next door, and searched and inspected in detail.
There were no windows, and there was no secret passage at the foot of the ceiling.
As expected, the previous LVPD had already searched the ground thoroughly, and the hotel cleaning staff had cleaned it countless times. Not a single hair or footprint was left.
…
"Why are you dazing, kid," said Holden, who was squatting next to the TV cabinet, "keep searching."
"Searching is of little use." Dean shook his head and grinned mysteriously, "I have another better investigation method."
Hearing this, a glimmer of expectation flashed in Holden's eyes, and he saw his companion pull the bathroom door shut.
Then he opened his bag and took out a bunch of strange things: a fortune telling board full of letters and symbols, a few white candles, a sage board, an incense burner with sage, a lighter...
"Since you accept Alvin's statement and believe in the existence of ghosts, then this time I will let you see with your own eyes the soul of Jayne Harden who died in this room."
Dean explains, "The dead don't tell lies, and its spirit will tell us the truth about the case."
Holden's pupils shrank and he raised an eyebrow.
"Are you kidding? Are psychics really effective?"
"Those who call themselves masters on TV are 100% liars. But I didn't lie to you."
Dean smiled casually, but kept moving his hands.
This action was the result of his careful consideration. Compared with mimicry and shadows of the past, psychic abilities are the most common and the most difficult to distinguish between true and false.
By showing this to win over FBI Holden, Dean will have a powerful helper in the future.
Investigation services will become very convenient.
"What should I pay attention to?"
Holden rubbed his hands and kept spinning in circles like ants on a hot pot.
"Sit down with me and listen to my instructions." Dean placed the divination expectations on his and Holden's knees. "No matter what you see or hear later, don't make a sound, keep absolutely quiet, well, just play the wooden game."
"Relax, being too nervous will scare the other person away."
Dean lit a row of candles with a lighter, letting the candlelight cover the area near the divination board.
"Is there any danger?" Hall took a deep breath and stretched out a hand to touch the holster under his arm. "Will Jayne Harden's soul hurt us?"
"I'm here to take care of you. As long as you obey my arrangements, you'll be safe." Dean's tone was full of confidence, and he lit the incense burner again.
"OK, I swear to God," Holden breathed a sigh of relief and rubbed his nose, "for the next hour, you are the chief and I am your police officer."
"Very good, I'll ask questions later, and you just wait for the soul to push the tablet to piece together the answer. Ordinary people can't see the spirit with their naked eyes, but I will use the tablet to let you see its true form. See what you see. supernatural being."
Dean tried his best to explain the relevant steps of channeling to the other party in a relaxed tone.
In a room dimly lit by candlelight, everything is ready at a certain moment.
Dean grabbed the catarrh and scratched his left index finger with the sharp tip.
Tick tock.
Blood fell on the chessboard.
Then two fingers pressed the board up, slowly turning it round and round.
“Friends gather together and treat each other sincerely.”
"The soul is near, and we call to you."
The board is turning.
A steady voice echoed in the claustrophobic room.
"Now I will begin my divination, and ask the spirit that lingers in this house to listen to my words."
"Dear Jayne Harden, is your spirit anywhere near us?"
The board is turning and turning.
Holden slowed his breathing and pricked up his ears.
Swish——
suddenly.
A cold wind blew from a corner near the window, causing the yellow light of the candles and the white smoke of sage to suddenly sway.
Holden sat up straight as if he was electrocuted.
A strange chill crawled up the backs of their hands along the contact point between the board and the fingers, and went up the arms. Goosebumps appeared all over his body, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
The next second.
The board shook violently and stopped on a word.
"YES."
He's around here!
Holden's wide eyes shone with excitement and fear, and he looked around cautiously, but unfortunately all he could see was darkness and emptiness.
Dean lifted the board and placed it in front of Holden's eyes, allowing his eyes to observe the darkness three meters away on the other side through the glass of the board.
A strange figure appeared in the originally empty place. A middle-aged white man in his forties, with a few sparse black hair on his forehead, wearing only underwear, revealing a waist as bloated as a bucket, and a pile of limp hair. Wrinkled and fat, he stared blankly into space, as stiff as a puppet.
The figure is like a reflection in the water, changing slightly with the surging air, full of a strange illusion.
After this glance, Holden's body shook suddenly, his mind was buzzing, and his whole person fell into sluggishness and confusion.
The outlook on life and values shaped over the past thirty years seemed to have been crushed to pieces by a magical, invisible hand.
The so-called falsehood and ignorance, the things he once despised, actually exist!
Dean glanced at him with pity. The supernatural phenomena that happened frequently to him were no less than miraculous to ordinary people.
He took away the chessboard at the right time, put it back on the chessboard, and asked,
"Jayne Harden, I am deeply sorry for your death."
"But you shouldn't die inexplicably. Someone should be responsible for the accident. Now, please tell me, what happened before you died?"
Sizzling…
The tablet rotated for a long time, moving and stopping, passing letters one by one, and finally pieced together a broken answer.
"I put on the hood, stood on the chair, put my neck in the rope, and got ready for Joan..."
"So did you kick over the chair on purpose or accidentally?" Dean then asked,
Sizzling…
The board deviated from YES, moving and stopping——
"It wasn't me."
Dean looked to his side. Seeing this result, Holden's confused face tightened and his expression was extremely serious.
"So it was Jon Catree in the room who plotted against you?"
"I don't know." The board shook. "Someone overturned the chair, but my eyes were covered by a black hood, so I couldn't see who it was."
The investigation progress has been increased from 5% to 15%.
Dean took a deep breath and almost lost control of his expression.
Jayne's coquettish operation clearly indicated that he was seeking death.
As expected, you can't have too much fun as a human being, otherwise you won't even know how you died.
"In your daily life and work, do you have any grudges with anyone?"
"No."
"Who do you think is the most likely murderer?"
"I don't know." Jayne said with a dull expression as he controlled the board to rotate rapidly, "Qiong is a considerate and good girl, and she is unlikely to harm me."
Dean changed his tactics and asked several times about the murder.
Finally got some clues.
"While suffocating, I heard a man's laughter. Then the door opened and the door closed."
After Jayne Harden's answers were put together, the investigation progress suddenly increased by 15%, jumping to 25%.
…
Dean turned his eyes and asked a series of questions.
"You have stayed in the bedroom since you entered the house and have never been to the bathroom?"
"without."
Dean nodded. There was only one door between the bedroom and the corridor, and Jayne had been staying in the bedroom, so if someone came in halfway, he would definitely know.
"During the entire incident, did you notice a third person entering the bedroom from outside the house?"
"without."
"After the chair was kicked down, you were strangled by the neck and struggled desperately, and then you heard the man's laughter and the sound of opening and closing the door?"
"Yes."
…
Dean's question stopped abruptly, and he quickly took out the transcript of the conversation between Lawyer Lucville and Joan Catree, and turned to a certain paragraph in it——
This woman claimed that after entering the house with Jayne Harden, she locked the door from the inside. There was no window in the room, so even if someone else had the key, it would be impossible to invade from the outside.
But after the incident, she was too panicked when she opened the door to ask for help, and did not notice whether the door was still locked.
This statement is completely consistent with Jayne's description.
Take a look at the confessions of Joan and Jayne.
The real murderer probably hid in the room before committing the crime and fled the scene without anyone noticing after committing the crime.
…
Dean came to this conclusion.
The investigation progress in the system skyrocketed, jumping from 25% to 35%.
…
Dean's thoughts were like lightning, and he analyzed further,
"So where in the room was the assailant most likely to be hiding before he struck?"
The timing of his attack was very clever.
Jayne Harden is in a completely undefended state. If he chooses to take action at this time, he will not expose himself and can easily kick over a stool and kill a life.
This is definitely not a coincidence. The murderer must have chosen a hiding place where he could easily observe the entire room.
But there were few places in the room to hide people.
Dean knelt down and looked under the double bed, which was narrow and dark.
If you hide under the bed, only the left and right sides of the bed have a view of the outside.
The place where Jayne hanged himself was outside the foot of the bed. The foot of the bed and the ground were almost sealed, and his condition could not be observed at all.
Moreover, when Jayne and Joan were playing games, if they changed their posture, they might find the person under the bed. This was not a wise choice.
Dean raised his head and looked directly at the shuttered wardrobe against the wall to the left of the bed.
Opening the cabinet door is very smooth and makes almost no sound.
There are two disposable pajamas and a thin blanket hanging in the cabinet.
He went straight in, closed the door, and hid in the tapestry. He cast his gaze through the gaps between the wooden strips on the cabinet door and had a clear view of the entire bedroom, without any blind spots.
He had a guess in his mind, but he couldn't confirm it yet. He returned to the divination chessboard and asked the next question,
"After you entered the room, did you use the shutter door wardrobe?"
"without."
"Except for the one last week, have you and Joan Catree played games in this 2-21 before?"
"Many times."
“Have you used that wardrobe before?”
"Never, we bring our own tools, luggage and clothes."
Dean nodded, and it was almost certain that the real murderer was hiding in the shuttered closet in room 2-21 to enjoy the show, and definitely more than once.
But that time last week he couldn't help but take action, and then escaped silently, leaving the mess and the blame to the hapless Joan Catree.
This thought together.
The investigation progress jumped to 45 percent.
…
Holden obediently remained silent, witnessing his young companion sometimes closing his eyes in deep contemplation, and sometimes smiling inexplicably, like a lunatic.
In the past, he would have advised the other party to see a psychiatrist.
But now, after seeing the real soul.
He could no longer utter any doubting words, and at the same time sighed,
He is like a mouse trapped at the bottom of a well. Today he finally crawls out of the shackles of darkness, and the vast world comes to meet him - the world opens another magical door to him!
Countless ideas are coming.
Asking the deceased for clues to investigate the case subverts all the old and outdated concepts. Compared with it, the usual investigation methods of the COP and FBI are as slow as a snail!
…
"Last two questions," Dean's voice called back his attention, "Jayne Harden, what is your impression of the staff, waiters, front desk, etc. of the Gowan Hotel? Did any of them impress you? Someone or something particularly profound?”
"without."
"Have you ever offended, for example, disrespected or discriminated against a hotel staff member?"
"without."
about there.
Dean put away the chessboard and restricted the soul-absorbing power of the chessboard. It didn't take long.
Jayne Hayden's soul disappeared into the air, presumably returning to Limbo.
…
"Is Jayne Harden gone, Dean?"
"Well, it left."
"So, you have been using psychic mediums to assist investigations in the past?" Holden finally couldn't hold back the excitement in his heart and stared into his eyes and asked,
Dean nodded, "In the case where the cheating partner killed his wife, I had a chat with the poor lady's soul."
"No wonder you were able to target criminals at the speed of light back then!"
"Don't get excited." Dean shook his head, "Back to the current case, Jayne Harden said so much just now, what do you think?"
"Faco, it's so great!" The candlelight illuminated Holden's red face, which was so excited that he was sweating. He started swearing for the first time. "I've rarely experienced such a smooth and fast investigation. I can basically lock in the truth." Fierce scope!”
He grinned nervously, like a madman.
Dean not only didn't take it seriously, but as if he was seeing the same kind of people, he grinned and showed a mouth full of white teeth.
"Oh, tell me."
(End of chapter)
