Clang.
The door of "Qiao Pier Antique Shop" opens and closes,
After going out, Dean readjusted the sign to "Open for Business" and took Sean back to the Citroën.
"Master, this old lady's emotions contain a lot of energy. She is absolutely ordinary," said Qiantan's mind. "But her emotions are very unstable. She is arrogant, fearful, happy...it has changed several times. It seems that she has some psychology." issues.”
"Carmody is mentally ill?" Dean raised his eyebrows. This is not good news.
In fact, he considered giving the old lady an edict of snakes, ordering her to hand over the Serent Rune.
But he always felt that there was a pair of ancient eyes hidden behind the old lady, some kind of powerful trump card, enough to counter the orders of the snakes.
In addition, Dean and Carmody are not incompatible with each other. There is no need to turn her into a slave as soon as they meet. It is better to have a fair deal first.
"But she dared to deceive us." Dean said to Shoal, "She will experience the pain of hell."
At this time, Sean, who was looking at the file in his hand in the back row, raised a hill between his brows and chanted loudly,
"The body has light spots, mushroom-shaped foam between the mouth and nose, and chicken skin-like skin... There are no signs of trauma, poisoning, violation, or abuse... This report clearly states that Martha Medina meets the characteristics of drowning." .”
"Kenny, is it possible that she died accidentally instead of being killed by an evil thing? Mrs. Carmody deliberately asked us to waste time looking for evil things that don't exist. She had no intention of handing over the Serent Rune. .”
"The previous records are normal." Dean drove along the central road of the store toward Changhu Lake. "But pay attention to the time of death. It was December 15th, which was more than a month ago at 11 o'clock in the evening. Why is a nine-year-old girl here? On a cold night, you go to the long lake to play in the water alone, and then accidentally drowned? This is obviously not consistent with common sense."
"The most likely possibility is that someone took her out of the house, or something lured her to the lake. Carmody's analysis was correct."
"I don't think so. Children aged eight or nine are at their most naughty. Sometimes they may have brain cramps, have nightmares, or watch strange cartoons, and they may do things that adults cannot predict. So it's not surprising that Martha herself drowned." Sean looked at the records in the report and retorted, "And there was only one grandma in her sixties, Fanny Medina, who went to bed early at night and couldn't find the child leaving. It’s also normal.”
"There is a high probability that this is just an ordinary drowning case, and it is Carmody's excuse to send us away."
"Do you have a big opinion against Carmody?" Dean looked at Sean's slightly angry face in the rearview mirror, as if he could see through his heart.
Sean's face stiffened for a moment, he put down the information and looked at the tips of his shoes, "She called me a wild dog. Even the most vicious passenger on the train had never insulted me like this. I couldn't swallow this breath. When I thought of her contemptuous expression , I just...want to destroy her with my own hands."
"Is this what you are saying? Don't you find that you are more easily angered?" Dean asked with a slight warning, "Becoming more animalistic."
Sean's face changed drastically, a bitter smile appeared on his lips, and a magical voice echoed in his mind - nocturnal species are beasts, and beastiality overwhelms human nature.
"It seems so. I can't control my temper. Kenny, please teach me what to do? I don't want to become a beast dominated by instinct."
"Find a reasonable channel to vent your negative emotions." As he spoke, Dean parked the car on a spectacular seawall, walked to the nearby store and bought a bag of fish feed, and then took Sean towards the vast white sky. long lake.
Shadow flew high into the sky from behind him and circled around to investigate within a four-kilometer radius.
Looking down from the sky, Changhu looks like a long, straight ribbon inlaid among the mountains, covering an area of hundreds of square kilometers and its deepest point exceeding 200 meters.
It is late winter, and the temperature in the Changhu Lake area is as low as minus 15 degrees, and it is covered with crystal clear ice flowers.
After the lake surface was frozen, the bubbles at the bottom of the lake were solidified by the cold when they floated up, and were fixed in the ice layer, forming a series of overlapping ice bubbles of different shapes. Together with the surrounding crystallized branches and the diffused fresh water vapor, the entire lake surface It's like a fairyland in a fairy tale.
It does not belong to a small town.
Several small towns such as Qiaodun Town, Shiling Town, Harrison Town, and Norway Town jointly occupy this beautiful lake area, and holiday villas have been built around the lake.
Dean brushed off the snowflakes on Sean's shoulder next to him and gave him a dark golden ball as a positioning coordinate. "Half of your body belongs to the wolf, and the wolf must gallop to its heart's content in order to grow, become sharp, rational, and control Stay in your animalistic nature. Run as hard as you can across the ice, vent your anger, but remember it’s daytime and stay human.”
Sean's eyes flashed with eagerness, as if some instinct hidden deep in his genes had awakened, "Will this work?"
“You’ll know after you try it.”
"Okay!" Sean half-bowed his body, rushed down the breakwater like lightning, and sprinted through the thick ice, leaving behind an afterimage chasing the wind and disappearing on the lake.
Dean was lost in thought.
This lake area is too large. If the evil thing that killed Martha is hiding in it, we have to find it and scan it from God's perspective. It won't take more than ten days and a half to scan it. There are still many hidden corners that cannot be taken into account.
He can only use another set of tricky methods to find evil objects.
Dean walked towards the villa area of Dongfangqiaodun Town on the shore of the lake.
According to records, Martha Medina's body was found floating face down in the water outside her lakeside house.
The lake had frozen over that night, so the body didn't float too far.
In five minutes, Dean arrived at his destination, squatted on the ice near the shore, pressed his fingers, and his fingertips spit out a beam of white-gold sharp life energy like a welding gun, drawing a regular circle against the ice. .
Clang.
The ice layer sank and floated in the water, shaking a few times.
Dean grabbed the center with his hand and lifted it, and a huge round ice cube flew into the bushes nearby.
The splashing ice revealed a sparkling ice cave inside.
Dean measured the water temperature with his hand, took out the shoal from his pocket and put it into the water.
The latter uses his telekinesis to dive into the water like a fish.
Soon after, the water surface in the cave rolled up into layers of waves, and a group of pike, trout, and salmon floating slowly in the lake, hugging each other for warmth... suddenly woke up from their nap, swung their tails vigorously, and turned into fish. The black and white silk and satin spread in all directions of the lake, and the mouth explored the lake water and the sediment at the bottom of the lake, as if looking for something.
Pfft.
A wave breaks out of the water.
Half of the round and flat head of the shallows was poked out of the hole in the ice.
"Fish are so brainless. They have no way of understanding my specific requirements. They only know that they are looking for a 'different' fish in the lake."
"Let's try it," Dean comforted himself, "What if the murderer is a strange fish?"
"Then I have launched a total of 500 fish this time, and you have to prepare 30 pounds of fish feed as reward."
"It has been prepared for a long time. These are all yours." Dean placed the bag of fish feed outside the ice cave. "You continue to stay in the lake and let me know if you find anything."
Qian Tan said suggestively, "It's so cold inside."
"The energy supply is doubled today."
"Wait for the good news!"
…
After assigning the task, Dean turned around and crossed a fence by the lake, a swing swaying in the wind between two pine trees, a colorful and bright red camellia flower bed, and arrived in front of a two-story brown villa.
That is, the home of the deceased Martha Medina.
From God's perspective, there were no lights on inside the villa, and a gray-haired old woman was sitting alone on the sofa in front of the fireplace in the living room, silently holding a petite white dress in her arms.
The firelight illuminated the beautiful features on her wrinkled face, and the charm of her youth could be vaguely seen, but now there was only hollowness, numbness, and the crystallization of tears around her eyes.
She seemed to have lost her soul.
Dean knocked on the door gently, and after heavy and slow footsteps, the door opened.
He showed the certificate that he had not used for a long time.
"Hello, Mrs. Medina?"
"Well, who are you?" The old man glanced at Dean with his dim eyes.
"This is Kenny Fantasy, a reporter for the Portland, Maine Daily News. I'm sorry to hear about the death of your granddaughter Martha, but I heard that you don't think Martha's death was accidental. Is there another hidden reason? I would like to do an exclusive interview about this, are you available?"
Dean smiled friendly, "Maybe I can help you find out some truth."
"Martha...wuwu...my Martha." The old lady let out a few wailing sobs from her nose, looking at Dean's face that inexplicably made her feel more friendly, "Can you really help me find out the truth? ?”
"I try my best."
"I am willing to accept your exclusive interview. Please come in, Mr. Fantasy."
"Just call me Kenny."
…
Beside the sofa in the living room, the old woman brought Dean a cup of hot water and said guiltily, "I'm sorry, there is no coffee at home."
"Hot water is just fine. I can understand your mood." Dean glanced around. The living room was empty. Except for the necessary sofa and fireplace, there was not even a TV. Moreover, all the furniture was old and very old. It is old, and the walls in some places and the wooden stairs leading to the second floor have been soaked and cracked by the moisture blowing from the lake. They have not been repaired. It is obvious that they are not living a comfortable life.
Dean looked at the old woman sincerely, "Such a beautiful and lovely girl disappeared so suddenly. If my daughter also encounters this situation, I can't imagine the pain."
"But please show your condolences and take care of yourself. Martha in heaven cannot bear to see your favorite relative so haggard."
Listening to Dean's soft comforting voice, the old woman's sad face eased slightly. She sat opposite him and picked up a photo frame.
There are three people in the photo, the left is an old woman, and the right is a tall, thin, straight-backed, upright old man, who should be her husband. The little girl with soft light red shawl red hair, big dark brown eyes, wearing a simple white dress and smiling shyly was hugged by the two in the center.
Her skin is white and delicate, and there is a hint of timidity and shyness in her eyes. She looks like a frightened deer, extremely pure and lovable.
Well, she was the victim in this case, Martha Medina.
"Let's get started, ma'am." Dean took out a pen and poked at the notebook, "You and your husband have been taking care of Martha for the past many years?"
The woman stared at the photo frame and nodded, "Martha's parents left Bridgetown to work in Portland when she was two years old, but they died in a car accident on the way."
"In the years since then, Jack and I have taken care of her together, but just last year, Jack also fell ill and passed away," the woman choked up. "Martha and I were the only ones left in the whole villa to depend on each other. And in order to give her While Jack was treating his illness, we sold out everything we could sell, and all the houses in the town were sold, leaving us with nothing but this lakeside villa and each other.”
This is called bad luck that only picks up misfortune.
Dean recorded his hand and stroked the old lady's trembling shoulders comfortingly.
"So what's Martha's personality like?"
"She is a bit introverted and afraid of strangers, but no other child is more sensible than her. She never causes any trouble at home. She studies hard in school and gets excellent grades, and rushes to help me with housework at home." The old woman Wiping away tears, she said sadly, "She knew that the family had no money, and the clothes she wore were mended and resized many times. She never complained, nor did she pester us to buy expensive toys like other children..."
"Why is such a lovely child gone?" The old lady pressed her cheek against the photo frame and sobbed. "Martha, my Martha, how can grandma live without you..."
Dean quickly comforted and suggested with his telepathy. He didn't speak until the old lady's crying subsided.
"Did Martha have any unusual behavior before the accident? Did she have the habit of going out alone late at night?"
"Sorry, I can't answer." The old woman felt guilty when she heard this. "I worked part-time in the Federal Supermarket during the day. I came home in the evening and prepared dinner for Martha. I couldn't help but feel sleepy at eight o'clock, so I went to bed. Now. Martha is reading and doing homework alone in the bedroom. So I never know what is going on at home after eight o'clock."
"But Martha is a sensible and obedient child. She would never worry about me by running to the lake rashly, not to mention that the temperature was only minus five or six degrees that night."
Dean looked at the investigation progress that slowly increased to ten percent and asked,
"Do you usually communicate with Martha a lot?"
"Ugh... not much. I was busy with work and ignored her. Most of her words were hidden in my heart. I am responsible for her accident."
"Relax, old lady, it's all over. But do you have any special thoughts on what happened to her?"
The old woman hesitated and said, "Jesus Christ, forgive my lies. I can't tell, but I can only guess that someone sneaked into the house and took Martha to the lake, but the police from the town police station checked several times. Again, there was no sign of any invasion in the house that night. Moreover, the neighbors and the big guys in the town all liked Martha, and no one had any motive to do this."
"There hasn't been a man-made murder in Qiaodun Town for several years."
"These are the parts that confuse me the most. It's unlikely that Martha ran to the lake by herself. Even if she accidentally fell into the lake, she could swim and she should be able to climb up. But it's not like someone came in and took her away. She drowned in the lake." The old woman looked at Dean, a deep plea flashed in her eyes, "Reporter Kenny, please help find out the truth, otherwise, even if I die right now, I won't be able to swallow it. Take your last breath."
Dean nodded heavily, rubbing the bridge of his nose in thought.
If the old woman's feelings are correct, and Mrs. Carmody's suggestion that there is evil hiding in the lake, then there is a possibility that some inhuman creature brought Martha to the lake.
This is just preliminary speculation without any evidence.
But if you think deeply along this line.
The presence of non-human creatures may leave some unusual traces.
"On the day Martha was found, did the police find any suspicious signs, or were there any strange phenomena around the lake area, such as unusual footprints and drastic changes in temperature?"
"Suspicious traces."
The old woman lowered her head tiredly, pinched her knees suddenly,
"I remembered that other townspeople living by the lake mentioned that there was fog on Long Lake the night of Martha's accident. It was as big as a dark cloud, rolling on the half-frozen lake, covering most of the lake area. It’s so thick that you can’t clearly see the scene inside the lake from a distance of ten meters.”
"And the time when the thick fog formed happened to be the time when Martha had an accident. So some people say that Martha was blinded by the fog and lost her direction, which is why the accident happened."
This sentence fell into place.
The progress of the event skyrocketed from 10% to 20%.
Dean's eyes widened.
There is no doubt that fog played an extremely important role in this incident.
Dean came up with two theories based on the fog.
One is like what the townspeople said. For some unknown reason, Martha left her home and came to the lake alone. As a result, she encountered heavy fog, lost her direction, and accidentally drowned.
Another possibility is that the mist is a sign of some supernatural evil creature, which seduces and takes away Martha.
But the image of Martha in Dean's mind is not yet completely clear, and he needs more details to judge the other party's actions that night.
Grandpa has passed away.
The remaining old woman did not have much communication with her granddaughter. She went to bed early and fell asleep, causing her to miss the most important time period when the crime occurred.
Dean could only understand the little girl Martha in other ways.
"Does Martha have the habit of writing a diary?"
"No."
"Then does she have any particularly close friends of the same age?"
Often children like to reveal their feelings to their peers.
"Yes," the old woman nodded heavily, picked up her reading glasses from the table next to her and put them on, then took out a small notebook and read the above few lines, "The son of David and Stephen at No. 102 Hubin Road. Lee, and Lucia’s daughter Wanda at No. 260 Shopping Street in the town, are best friends with her.”
Lucia?
Dean instantly thought of the blond and hot waiter in the restaurant where he dined when he arrived in Qiaodun Town at noon.
"Lucia is a waiter at the Pier Restaurant?"
"Yes, it's her. She is also a poor widow, raising two children alone. Wanda is her eldest daughter. She is in the same grade as Martha. She is sensible and obedient, and she has no father, so she gets along well with Martha."
There was a hint of love on the old lady's face, "Billy from the David family is a naughty little boy, but he is sincere. He never cares about Wanda and Martha's parents and has become good friends with them."
"Martha would go to the two children's homes from time to time to watch TV and play with toys."
The event progress jumped to 25%.
Dean nodded, so the important clues found so far include the fog on the lake the night Martha was killed, and the two children Billy and Wanda.
The old woman sighed heavily and said,
"Every time Martha came back from visiting a friend's house, she would sadly ask Jack and me why she didn't have a mom or dad."
"We didn't dare tell her the truth. We just said they went to work in a distant place."
"This poor child has finally got his wish and is reunited with his parents in heaven."
Big tears squeezed out from the slits of the old man's eyes, and a sad smile spread out from the corner of his mouth.
"Little Martha...wuwu...don't worry, grandma will be with you soon."
"Old madam, please take care of yourself. God does not welcome people who abuse their own lives to enter heaven." Dean withdrew his God's perspective of scanning the entire villa.
"Last question, Martha's body?"
"It's been more than a month. He was cremated and buried according to local rules."
There is no way to lick the memory.
Dean took out a piece of brown paper from his arms and stuffed it into the old woman's hand, "Today's interview is almost over, it's time for me to leave. Wait for the good news, and I will find out the truth about Martha's death for you."
"Wait, Kenny," the old woman opened the brown paper bag and took a look. She was immediately stunned by the green banknotes inside. She quickly stood up and stuffed the money back, "I can't take this money."
"It's not much money, it's just my kindness. Please accept it to buy a color TV and some winter clothes." Dean said, "If you don't accept it, I won't be able to go all out to help you investigate."
After saying that, without waiting for the red-eyed old man to refuse, Dean strode out of the house.
Looking at the gray sky, my eyes turned to the east of the lake shore,
"Let's go visit Billy at David's house first."
(End of chapter)
