Arthur hurriedly interrupted Corsi's compliments to him and asked clearly: "You'd better tell me about the child's behavior at that time!"
When it came to the child, the Cosi couple suddenly became discouraged, "He is already dead, what else is there to say!"
"That's not the case, Mr. Corsi, I want to know if that devil is still in your home."
Arthur's words immediately frightened the couple, and Corsi stopped talking nonsense and said immediately: "Little Tony has been possessed, that is, in the past month. It started with a fever, and then it turned into He talks nonsense and often hums a nursery rhyme in his sleep."
When Arthur heard that he didn't find anything strange, he couldn't help but ask: "Do you still remember that nursery rhyme?"
Cosi scratched his head, "It seems to be called To Kill a Mockingbird. I don't know who made it up. All the children nearby are singing it."
Arthur suddenly remembered the nursery rhyme he heard the children singing on the cliff last night.
"Is that the song Who Killed the Mockingbird? It was I, the sparrow, I killed the mockingbird, with my bow and arrow."
Arthur began to learn the nursery rhyme he heard that night, and Cosi nodded quickly and confirmed, "It's exactly this one. Suddenly, many children are singing it recently."
Arthur nodded. He didn't realize there was anything strange about this nursery rhyme, so he couldn't help but ask: "What happened to Tony after that?"
"At first we thought the child was just sick, but gradually his eyes began to turn green, like the color of a demon, and he would often make beastly roars from his mouth."
This is indeed consistent with the demons Arthur has seen. "What did Father Ove say?"
"He said all this was just an act of childishness, and later confirmed that little Tony was mentally ill."
Arthur couldn't help but cover his face, feeling that Ovi was being too arbitrary.
"Little Tony was admitted to a mental hospital, and news of his death came two days later."
"What about the child's body?"
"The mental hospital didn't give it to us. They said it was better to cremate him immediately to prevent his disease from spreading to others."
Arthur was speechless for a while. This era is really not friendly to the common people without knowledge. Many times, the above sentence determines the life and death of the people at the bottom.
Arthur nodded, "I understand. I will go to the mental hospital to investigate. Just wait for my news!"
The Corsi couple held Arthur's hands tightly, and after thanking him, asked him: "Then, do you want to see my home?"
Arthur looked around the room. There was almost no decent furniture here, and everything was in tatters. Arthur could only comfort him: "Don't worry! Your place is very clean."
With Arthur's assurance, the Corsi couple felt relieved.
After leaving Corsi's house, Arthur couldn't help but ask Vernon: "Are there any conflicts between the residents of the town and the St. Clair family?"
Vernon spread his hands, "Although I have worked here for two years, I am from the city and I really don't know much about their history."
Arthur nodded and said nothing more, but Vernon asked him nervously: "Are you really going to that lunatic asylum?"
It's no wonder that Vernon looks like this. People's current understanding of mental patients tends to be that these people are influenced by demons and are aliens.
In mental hospitals, the most common method used by doctors is violent exorcism. They sometimes tie up patients and whip them, and sometimes put disobedient patients directly in the water until they give up struggling.
Therefore, screams and screams are often heard near the mental hospital, which makes more and more people dare not pass by easily. At the same time, this place has gradually become a forbidden area in people's mouth.
Arthur patted Vernon on the shoulder, "If you don't want to go with me, please help me gather the 13 residents who went to church yesterday. When I come back in the evening, we can inquire together."
Vernon nodded in agreement as if he was being pardoned.
Knox Mental Hospital is located on a hill ten miles west of Ross Township.
It was originally a monastery and later converted into a shelter, mainly for homeless and mentally ill people.
After Queen Victoria officially ascended the throne, for the sake of people's livelihood, she officially changed the asylum into Knox Mental Hospital, but people still called it Knox Lunatic Asylum.
This place not only houses mentally ill patients, but is also a correctional facility where thieves and gangsters are reformed.
But Arthur heard that few people could come out from here, and that the corpses they needed for classes at Edinburgh University were mainly provided here.
On the hillside, Knox Mental Hospital stood alone. The surrounding fields were already overgrown with weeds, and no one dared to plant crops here.
"Hello! I am Arthur Conan Doyle. I am here to meet your Dean Aldrich."
Arthur took out a business card and handed it to the doorman.
The guard was a stout man with a thick face and a wooden stick in his hand.
He seemed to have never heard of Arthur's deeds, but for the sake of Arthur's well-dressed appearance, he still agreed gruffly: "Okay! Wait a minute, I need to ask for permission."
Then he strode into the dilapidated building.
Arthur looked inside and found surprisingly no one in the yard. Arthur guessed that it might be lunch time, but several sudden howls made him overturn his idea.
He had to light up a cigarette to calm himself down.
The wait was not long. The guard came back and hurriedly opened the door. He apologized to Arthur and said, "I'm sorry, sir. I didn't know you were a friend of the dean. Please come in sir."
Arthur was a little confused. Although he knew the dean's name, he and Aldrich did not know each other.
The guard brought him to the front of the building. At this moment, Dean Aldrich and two people were waiting for him at the door.
Arthur quickly took off his hat and stretched out his hand to the man in the middle.
"Hello, Dean Aldrich, please forgive me for intruding."
It is indeed very rude to visit someone without making an appointment.
But Aldrich didn't seem to mind at all. He took Arthur's hand enthusiastically and said with a smile: "I was honored to meet you at the cocktail party the day before yesterday. It's just that there was someone around you at the time, so I didn't have the chance to meet you. I was just thinking about finding an opportunity to visit you! But you came today. Maybe this is because my sincerity moved God!"
Arthur asked Aldrich to say it, and felt goosebumps all over his body.
Busy and modestly said: "You're too polite, that's just a little discovery of mine."
Arthur felt that Dean Aldrich was like a scholar and professor who was looking for investment that day.
But the next moment, Aldrich shook his head decisively, "No, no, no, you can't say that. You found a way to restrain the devil in the small intestine. This deeply inspired me."
Arthur:......
He only felt as if a flock of crows were flying over his head.
