[Zhongyingmei] The clown is actually me

The first ray of sunlight in the morning pierced through the clouds like a sharp sword, adding a layer of translucent white edges to the thick clouds.

The mountains and rivers are undulating, and the clouds and mists are thin.The fog covering the entire town was dispelled by the sunlight, and the town towering over the street finally had some fireworks.The green plants on the side of the road cover this layer of dirty floating soil,? It is morning,? The men and women in the town are very silent, even the laughter of the children is small,? Occasionally, a vehicle drives by,? The town The villagers are walking in the flying dust, the lazy big dog is lying on the grass, the shops on both sides of the street are full of fresh fruits and vegetables, there are also homemade cheese, dried meat, and handmade silverware. quality supplies.

Melodious bells sounded from a distance, and flocks of white pigeons flew across the sky.This small town has a strong religious atmosphere. Old churches are hidden in the streets and alleys. Believers wearing crosses and muttering can be seen everywhere.Jason and Jack walked around them without saying a word, and came to a big white house.The mansion is hidden behind a row of dense hazelnut trees, and the dahlias that have not yet withered sway gently in the wind, and the slightly sour fragrance is heard from afar.

Jason tidied up his clothes and rang the doorbell.

A few minutes later, the gate of the mansion was opened, and a person came out from behind the door—to be precise, he was not walking, because he was sitting in a wheelchair, wrapped in an air-conditioning blanket, as thin as a solitary copper Silk.

"Hello." The man in the wheelchair showed a kind of vigor like returning to the light, like a long-term sick man trying to receive guests, "You are the reporters who are coming today, right? Valentina called me Hello,? Sorry I can't get up,? Let me introduce myself, I'm Milton Adams, the doctor of this town."

Milton Adams, a core member of Childhood Return, is one of the two major suspects in the Highway Killer case.

"Hello, my name is Cromwell Todd, I am a student who has not entered the industry. This is my tutor. We are here to interview you. If you don't mind, I hope to use the name of 'Childhood Returned' As my graduation thesis." Jason pretended to be a shy student, and pointed to Jack standing beside him when he said "mentor".

"What 'childhood returned' people, we are just a group of people who have been hurt, hugging each other and licking each other's wounds, chatting for comfort." Milton smiled, pushed his wheelchair, and led them into the mansion, " How is Valentina?"

"Valentina is fine. Before coming, she asked me to say hello to you on her behalf." Jason hesitated for a while: "Did you... hurt your leg?"

A dark golden chandelier is hung on the top of the living room, a large number of oil paintings, statues and oriental ceramics are displayed on both sides, and a small white wool carpet is spread in the center. High-quality candlesticks, letter paper, diaries and quills are placed randomly, and Louis X□ copper wall lamps hang on both sides of the wall. The sunlight falls through the painted glass windows and reflects on the Victorian-style Aubusson tapestry.Inside the ivory-colored fireplace, the fire ignited by the pine branches is still burning, dispelling the overflowing late autumn moisture in the room. Behind the dark velvet curtains are blackout blinds, and the morning sun is cut into long strips by the blinds.The wind came in through the window sill fence carved with roses, bringing a faint fragrance of flowers to everyone present.

Jack looked up at the walls on both sides, and the bright warm yellow light fell like flowing water, reflecting the figure and his shadow on the oil painting. Under the reflection of a layer of furry halo, several portraits hanging on the wall seemed to have Breath of life.His gaze skipped over the row of oil paintings. Most of the people in the portraits were expressionless and lifeless.The distance between each painting is equal, but there are two sections of the wall that are empty. It may be that the portrait was taken down and placed elsewhere, and he could not see the content of the painting.

Two paintings are missing.

Milton threw himself deep in the crimson sofa, wrapped himself in a blanket skillfully, as if wrapping a shroud around himself.His face collapsed badly, his body was like wax tears melted under the high temperature, and he slid down the sofa. Between the young man's eyebrows, there was a thick black air that was decaying and dying—a kind of thick, Tiredness that is about to lose its vitality.

He shook his head: "I was paralyzed from the lower half of my body last September."

"Is it a car accident?"

"No, it's a rare spinal stenosis neurosis. In short, as time goes by, my spinal canal will become narrower and narrower, and eventually all the nerves inside will be squeezed to death." Milton smiled, He propped himself up and pushed several plates of melons and fruits and a plate of dried whitebait in front of the two of them: "Eat it, this is a specialty of our place. You may not be used to cheese, but dried whitebait is delicious and can also nourish your body." calcium."

Jason and Jack looked at each other silently - the chemical characteristics of the clown toxin are similar to meth, which will sink through the skin and cause bone problems.Therefore, one of the main points of treatment is to eat a lot of calcium-containing substances. There are calcium supplements in the standing snacks and medicines in the bat cave.

"Although it may cause a second injury, doctor, are you interested in telling your... story from before?" Jason thought about his words.He is not very good at dealing with sensitive victims. If he could, he would rather face a vicious criminal with a gun than to be careful with every word in order to avoid secondary harm.

Milton was obviously stunned. He lowered his head. On his pale plaster-like face, there was an extremely humanized sorrow, which was as lifelike as a marble statue in the Renaissance era.It can be seen that even such a simple action can make him very sad. In the end, he pursed his lips and said slowly: "Actually, I have no story. This house used to be the ancestral house of our family. My father's generation fell into poverty. Had to sell the house. Then in order to redeem this old house, they have been running around and running the property, no need to care about me. When I was a child... I was about 11 years old at the time, and they didn't care about men and women. Me and my My parents confided that they would take me away, as long as they didn't lock me up with the perpetrators. But they just comforted me, they didn't take me out of Yangktown, and I had to stay here and continue to face the beasts."

"Later, my parents bought back the ancestral home, and I went back to where my ancestors lived. I used to hate this house so much, I felt like my parents gave me up for it, and I resented why my parents didn't Take me out of this small town, I thought I would be much better if I left here. At least not like now." Milton picked up a cup of hot black tea, looked around this classic and luxurious mansion, no one said It's not clear whether his gaze is attachment or hatred, or maybe both, "But I couldn't leave Yangktown. I once went to college and left far away, like leaving behind a nightmare. But I still come back Now, my roots are here, and I will never be able to leave. Maybe, joining the 'Childhood Return' organization is a kind of commemoration. I am different from other people in the organization. I never thought that this would be successful from the very beginning. .”

"Do you mind if I interrupt, Mr. Milton." Jack pointed to the two walls where no portraits were hung, "Is the reason you stayed in Yangktown related to these two paintings?"

"You are very sharp, sir. You guessed it right. According to our family tradition, only portraits of dead ancestors can be hung. There should be portraits of my parents here, but they disappeared when I was a teenager. , It’s been almost, 15 years. I haven’t hung them here, it’s probably a fluke, I think they are still alive. So I... have stayed in this small town.” Milton said while looking at Outside the window, under the shroud of thin mist, the whole town seems like a silent mystery.

"Mr. Milton, although it is a little offensive to ask, but—is your wife an Oriental?"

"Yes, how did you know?" Milton was very surprised.

"When I came here, I saw red paper left on the gate of the mansion. In the East, people would stick portraits of vicious generals on the gate to ward off evil. Orientals call this 'door god'."

"Well, she brought some customs with her, yes, my wife is an Oriental, and she left shortly after I was paralyzed."

"It can be seen that you are nostalgic."

"Ok?"

"The white car parked in the courtyard, you have been paralyzed. The reason why you didn't sell the new car is that your wife used to drive it often."

Jason stopped Jack with his eyes, and continued to ask: "Mr. Milton, can you tell me where you were on October 10 this year?"

Milton recalled: "I was in Europe at the time."

"Europe?"

"Yes, I went there for a leisure trip. I went to Europe in June and lived there for about 6 months. I didn't come back to Yankee in mid-October. Apartment, I still remember that the owner is three twin brothers surnamed Keili, and the table wine only costs 4 dollars a bottle." Milton laughed.

Jack shrugged: "Then you must have seen a lot of Europeans in the toilet, right?"

Milton was stunned, not realizing why Jack changed the subject so abruptly, but he still managed to maintain a smile: "Yeah, I've seen a lot of those self-proclaimed civilized Europeans grabbing urinals in the toilet." .”

Jason asked a few more unimportant questions, and they chatted happily. Finally, Jason looked at the garden full of green plants, where clumps of roses and bougainvilleas were blooming. He smiled and said, "Mr. Milton, Can I go for a walk?"

"of course can."

Jason walked around the courtyard, and finally took Jack to leave.Just stepping out of the threshold of the mansion, the two looked at each other and said almost in unison: "There is a dark room (hidden room) in this house."

Jack was not surprised, but Jason was stunned: "How do you know?"

"There's something wrong with the direction of the airflow in this house. In two rooms within a certain distance, the direction of the wind is deflected a little bit. It feels like it is bypassing some solid object. So I guess there is a closed air in the house. Darkroom." Jack lit a cigarette.

Jason frowned, apparently not believing Jack's explanation: "Only by feeling? How can this be done?"

"If a layer of your epidermis is burned off by chemicals, the reason why you don't like to come out to commit crimes in autumn is that you are blown by the autumn wind and make your eyeliner smear. You will be as sensitive to wind as I am." Batman knows this kind of problem, but no one thinks the clown is weak, "I made a rough estimate, and according to the deflection angle of the wind, the dark room should be behind the collection room next to the living room, with a length and width of about [-]." Meters and two meters. But how do you know?"

"Measure with your feet?"

"Oh?"

"The distance of each step is exactly the same. I used my footsteps to roughly measure the outer edge of the mansion, and then planned all the rooms, and finally constructed a three-dimensional plan of the first floor. There is a shaded area on the map, and I didn't find it near there. door, so I guess there is a hidden room behind it, the length and width are as you guessed."

But Jack didn't pay attention to Jason's words. He absently recalled Mr. Milton's words and this pure white mansion surrounded by flowers.Suddenly he stopped, trembling as if his brain had been electrified, and in the doctor's words, there were two timid ghosts circling.This discovery made him happy physically and mentally, and the face of the scholar and gentleman couldn't help showing a strange smile. At this moment, he seemed to have turned back into a vicious devil.He turned to Jason and said, "Little Red Bird, that Dr. Milton lied about something."