Whispering Verse

The first floor of the Three Cats Hotel is a completely open building, except that there is an area under the stairs, which is one step higher than the normal ground. The second floor of the Three Cats Hotel is like a patio. There are tables placed around the second floor. If you lean on the railing, you can directly see the first floor. This is so that people on the second floor can also see the bard on the first floor. performance.

The hotel was still in its original state. The female owner, Mrs. Sang Mei, warmly entertained the two of them. The doctor took Shade to the second floor and sat down in a remote corner on the second floor.

Tobesk is still foggy in the afternoon. After all, steam pipe heating will start in the city next Monday. Recently, the factory has produced much more exhaust gas than normal. In addition, the weather today was not good, so although it was still afternoon, the gas lights were still turned on at the Three Cats Hotel. But in order to save gas costs, the light is not very strong.

The doctor first went to the third floor to call down his patient, Mr. Jims, and asked Shade to sit there and wait. Since the doctor had already ordered drinks from the scantily clad waitress, Shade didn't need to do anything else.

After the doctor left, he sat there and looked at the guests around him. In order for Mr. Jims to be somewhat calmer, Dr. Schneider selected the southeast corner of the second floor. In addition, there were not many guests on Friday afternoon, so when Shade looked around, he could only see a middle-aged woman with her back to him, leaning against the wall on the second floor opposite the patio. Wine glasses for drinking.

"A woman drinking alone in a hotel on a Friday afternoon?"

Shade smelled "the smell of a story," but he was not a writer like Dorothy, so although he was curious, he had no intention of investigating.

Before Dr. Schneider came back, the drinks they ordered were delivered, and walking up the stairs holding a tray was actually the hotel owner, Mrs. Sammy.

"Mrs. Sangmei, you didn't drive the waiter out of the store to save money because there was no business in the afternoon, right?"

Shade asked with a smile. The female shopkeeper wore an apron and put the wine glasses on the table one by one:

"Oh, detective, is it because of Hamilton's reputation that I personally brought you drinks?"

Mrs. Sang Mei also said with a smile. After placing the wine glass on the table, she brought a plate of fried beans and placed it in the center of the table:

"Is this for you?"

"Why?"

Shade blinked.

“I have heard people mention the ‘detective’s penny problem’ these days. Whenever people in the city talk about this problem, they will mention us.”

Mrs. Sangmei said:

"Thank you, Detective, for making us more famous."

Shade stretched out his hand, pinched a bean and threw it into his mouth:

"Isn't it a bit stingy to only give you a plate of beans?"

Shortly after Mrs. Thornmee left, Dr. Schneider returned with Mr. Jims. Contrary to Shade's imagination, although Mr. Jims was thin and short, he did not show "nervousness" or abnormal behavior.

Mr. Jims is a middle-aged man in his thirties. He has already learned Shade's identity from Dr. Schneider, and he reached out to him politely to say hello.

When the three of them sat down, Dr. Schneider sat with his back to the wall, Shade sat opposite the doctor, and Mr. Jims was on the doctor's left and Shade's right.

Dr. Schneider's psychological diagnosis and treatment did not require Shade to interrupt, so he sat aside and listened to the doctor asking Mr. Jims about his schedule this week and the problems he had encountered in recent days.

Shade learned from the conversation between the two that Mr. Jims' "persecution paranoia" was not the feeling that someone always wanted to kill him, but the feeling that his surroundings were full of accidents, and any disturbance could lead to a fatal incident. crisis.

When I see someone playing with a dagger, I think the dagger will definitely stab him; when I see a banana peel in front of me, I think I will definitely step on it and slip to death; I even see wild cats and dogs rummaging through trash cans in the alley, and I also think would think that these wild animals would harm him.

This psychological problem appeared three months ago. Mr. Jims is not a native of Tobesk, but an accountant from the city of Antro, further north. He sought help from a local psychologist, but to no avail. It happened that the "Levant Wool Supply and Marketing Company" where he worked sent him to Tobesk City to conduct year-end reconciliations with local upstream suppliers, so he was introduced Only then did I find Dr. Schneider.

Of course, although the patient himself believed that he might die at any time, in fact, in the three months since he had this "delusion", except for a few weeks of minor colds, he had not been injured by any accident. However, as time went by, Mr. Jims' "crisis perception" became stronger and stronger, and now, he is even unwilling to go to a strange place like Dr. Schneider's clinic.

Dr. Schneider tried to analyze Mr. Jims's mental state from all angles and prescribed some calming and sleep-aiding drugs for him in the past few weeks. This method can indeed relieve tension, but it does not have much effect on Mr. Jims' "fatal crisis sense".

The conversation between the two lasted for more than half an hour. Dr. Schneider had a preliminary understanding of his patient's psychological changes this week, so he signaled that it was Shade's turn.

Shade didn't think he could play a big role, but now that he was here, he treated this as a detective investigation:

"Mr. Jims, did you encounter anything special before you suddenly had this strange idea three months ago?"

he asked carefully.

"Dr. Schneider has analyzed the past with me that may have affected my mentality."

Mr. Jims shook his head slightly.

"No, no, I mean, have you ever been to a cemetery, an abandoned country church, a strange shop in an alley, or bought a strange pendant, a strange statue, or an old leather-bound book?"

Shade asked with a serious expression. Mr. Jims thought for a moment before he understood what he meant:

"Detective, you mean..."

"It's just a possibility. Although I don't agree with the introduction of theology into the study of spiritual science, sometimes we have to consider various reasons."

Shade said, and Dr. Schneider on the side also nodded:

"That's why I brought the detective in, and of course, you don't have to pay the detective extra for it."

Mr. Jims was relieved and recalled:

"Sorry, I guess I haven't been exposed to strange things."

"That's it..."

Shade thought for a while and came up with another idea:

"Since you feel that you are always shrouded in a fatal crisis, have you tried to really put yourself in danger? Maybe when you really escape death, the strange psychological feeling will disappear, which is a bit like using poison to relieve the pain of another person. An antidote to poison.”

"Is there such a way to detoxify?"

Mr. Jims asked curiously, but then nodded:

"It does sound reasonable, but how do you put yourself in danger?"

"This is simple."

Shade put his hand into his coat, looked around, and then took out the [Gun of Kindness] from the gun bag. In the astonishment of Mr. Jims, he took it out and slapped it on the table:

"use this."

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