novelonline Chapter 2981: The Green Trees Are Thick and the Summer Is Long (5)
Chapter 2981: The Green Trees Are Thick and the Summer Is Long (5)
Chapter 2981: The Green Trees Are Thick and the Summer Is Long (Fifteen)
At dawn, Schiller returned to Arkham Asylum. He was not surprised to find that Brand had not slept at all. Schiller placed the midnight snack he had bought on the road on the table.
Brand stood up from his desk. It looked like he had been gone for quite some time. He was suddenly awakened by the smell of food. He quickly came over and asked, "Did you buy it from a Chinese restaurant?"
"if not?"
"That's right, they're the only ones that stay open so late." Brand rubbed his hands, but soon realized something, narrowed his eyes and looked at Schiller and said, "What do you want to do? I warn you, I won't be bribed by a midnight snack."
"You think too much. It's just that if you buy too little, they won't sell it to you."
Brand always felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't put it into words, so he simply stopped thinking about it and opened the bag and started eating. He felt a little envious of Schiller's skillful use of chopsticks, but he still obediently picked up the fork and ate the fried noodles.
"You went to investigate near the school. Did you find anything?"
"That school also had a junior high school and an elementary school," Schiller said. "It should have been in operation for a period of time about ten years ago, but later it was demolished for some reason. I suspect the principal in question may not be the principal of the high school, but the principal of the demolished middle school and elementary school."
"Will there be three principals?" Brand asked.
Schiller nodded and said, "There should be at least two, one for the junior high school and elementary school, and one for the high school."
Brand also studied psychology, so he certainly knew why this was the case. The teaching methods in junior high schools and elementary schools were completely different from those in high schools. The schedules and management methods were of course also different. It was normal for the school to be managed by two principals.
"But Edward didn't go to junior high school or elementary school there, so how come he had dealt with the principals of both the junior high school and elementary school?" Brand asked.
Schiller shook his head and said, "It's not clear yet, but after all, the three schools are not far from each other, so it's not impossible that we bump into each other by chance."
"If, as you said, it was the principal of the primary and secondary school department who did it, then he couldn't have done it on the side of the road, right? Could Edward have run into the office?"
Schiller has not been able to come out of his state of thinking. The difficulty of this case is that it happened so long ago that most of the clues have been buried in time. The only person involved who has experienced it is unable to accept questioning, so there are too few clues.
"There is a very useful clue." Schiller said: "We found a body underground at the site of the junior high school and elementary school. Judging from the state of the bones, it should be a worker."
"Corpse?" Brand seemed interested.
Schiller took out a transparent plastic bag used by professional forensic doctors from his pocket and handed it to Brand. Brand saw the finger bone in the plastic bag, but he still wanted to say more.
"Are you serious? Carrying this thing around with you?"
He was referring to the professional plastic bag, but Schiller said nonchalantly, "I just picked it up when I went to the Gotham Police Department's morgue."
"Gordon let you take it?" Brand said in disbelief, "Is he mentally OK? Does he really not need to be hospitalized?"
"Of course he wouldn't let me take it, but it's better than taking part of the body." Schiller didn't dwell on the issue. He said, "If you can find a professional, please help me test and compare the genes."
"That depends on what kind of professional you're looking for." Brand stared at the finger bone and said, "From a scientific point of view, it's unrealistic to compare the DNA of everyone in the city. The Gotham Police Department certainly doesn't have such comprehensive genetic information, and Batman may not have it either."
"What about other angles?"
"I can set up a magic circle," Brand said, "and maybe I can summon his soul to ask him questions. If not, at least I can see what he looks like."
"Can you reconstruct the scene of death?"
Brand shook his head and said, "I'm afraid it's difficult. It would be great if we could see some traces of the soul. If Constantine could still use magic, he would be the real Hell Detective. I'm just a pathologist."
"You'd better be just a pathologist." Schiller snorted and said, "How long will it take?"
"It will take about a day to prepare the materials... I'll make a list for you, and you go find Zatanna. She will know where to buy the materials."
"Why should I go?" Schiller looked at him.
"Are you asking me to delay my work and bring my own materials to help you?" Brand looked at Schiller and said, "Can you have some sense of debt?"
"I mean you don't have any students?"
"Of the seven interns I supervised this year, eight failed to pass the internship, nine did not make up the required supervision hours, and 7 had to take leave to write papers. Do you think they still have time to run errands for me?"
Schiller sighed. Even if this was Naya, it was too much to pay him back.
Schiller originally planned to ask his graduate students to make the trip. Don't think that foreign supervisors are any better; graduate students still have to run errands. However, when he thought that several of his third-year students would graduate in just a month, and their junk papers were still lying in his mailbox, he thought he should go himself.
Schiller went back to his room and took a nap, then called Zatanna. Miss Magician was a little surprised by Schiller's visit. When Schiller arrived, she seemed to be urgently cleaning up the bookstore.
"Where's John?" Schiller asked casually.
"He went to the publishing house."
"Publishing house?"
"Don't you know? Two of his recent short stories were published and received very good reviews."
“He’s starting out as a writer?”
"Not really. I was just bored when I was browsing in a bookstore, so I wrote down some magical events I had encountered before. An editor happened to see the draft he had left on his desk and suggested that he submit it to a publishing house. I didn't expect it to be published."
Zatanna smiled and said, "Let's not talk about what kind of person he is, but his experience is indeed legendary. Some people like to read this. He earned more than 1000 yuan in royalties from two novels."
Schiller raised an eyebrow and said, "Magical events? Does he write adventure novels?"
"Uh... Actually it's a horror novel." Zatanna said helplessly, "Some things are not so scary from the perspective of a magician, but they are a bit scary from the perspective of ordinary people."
Schiller was also a little surprised, but he felt that Constantine was actually very suitable for this job, or rather, compared to a magician, he should have been doing this job. Those inspirations that far exceeded those of ordinary people should have been poured into works of art. If he had chosen this path, he might have been a famous writer now.
Zatanna seemed to think so too. She said: "John's life is not a complete tragedy. He has been involved and experienced it. Now he can break free and look at the mysterious side of the world from an outsider's perspective. It is only a matter of time before he embraces art. Being an artist is better than being a corpse."
"What about you?" Schiller asked.
"Me? Reviving the magic world is my destiny. Even if someone pays off my debt one day, I will go back for the sake of responsibility. What's more, I still have to find my father."
Schiller's lips moved. He knew that Brand might have clues about Zatanna's father, but considering that it was not safe to deal with Naya, he still did not make any suggestions.
But then he thought that it might be a good idea to let Constantine deal with Naia, because Constantine was now a writer, and no Outer God could refuse someone to write his story into a book.
This is almost a win-win-win situation for all three parties. Constantine gets inspiration from Nayya's narration and publishes novels to make money. Nayya uses his novels to expand his influence and have more fun. Constantine can also ask Zatanna for clues about her father indirectly and help her find her relatives.
As for Schiller, he just did a little matchmaking work, which can be regarded as paying off the debt to a certain extent. It must be considered as paying it off, because he would not pay more anyway.
Schiller gave Zatanna the list of materials from Brandler, and Zatanna took a quick look and said, "You want to perform a necromancy ritual? I have to remind you that the person conducting the ritual must be reliable, otherwise it is uncertain what can be summoned."
Schiller said in his heart: "No one is more reliable than him."
"Is your medium ready? Can you show it to me?" Zatanna was obviously worried. She continued, "Some demons will secretly change the medium on purpose, so that they can come to the world through the ritual of summoning spirits. I have encountered this several times. The cunningness of demons is unimaginable to ordinary people."
Fortunately, Schiller had the small piece of bone with him and handed it to Zatanna to look at. Zatanna nodded, then told Schiller that these materials were not difficult to prepare, she had them all, and quickly turned around to prepare the materials.
Because he wanted to find Constantine, Schiller waited for a while longer. Constantine came back around noon. He looked a lot stronger, but his expression was still that of a sleepy-looking man.
"Neccult ritual? Isn't it time for you to laugh at me for being a detective from hell?" Constantine sneered, but still took a close look at the medium that Schiller brought over.
"I sensed the aura of a sudden death, but it's probably just an ordinary person. It's easy to deal with as long as there's no contract object. Who are you looking for?"
"Brand."
"That friend of yours? I can't see through him. Maybe he's a powerful person."
"More powerful than you think."
Constantine looked up at Schiller.
"Would you like to come with me to meet him?"
"You sound like you want to sell me out."
"If I wanted to sell you, you would have been chopped into pieces long ago." Schiller stood up and said goodbye to Zatanna.
"No matter what, don't bring up Zack." Constantine stood up, shook his slippers and said, "Even if you don't tell me, I'll go. The necromancy ceremony is not as simple as you think. What if it's a fool who demolishes the asylum, but what if he lets those lunatics out?"
"I didn't expect you to have such a sense of social responsibility."
"I spent so many years in a mental hospital, and they shouldn't have an easy time either."
"I take back what I said before."
The two got in the car, and the black-haired girl in a simple short-sleeved shirt and shorts stood in the bright sunshine, smiling and waving at them. The light flowed through her, as bright as an oil painting.
"She is so beautiful," Constantine said. "I will write her as the heroine in my new novel."
"And then I'll end up marrying you, the male protagonist?"
"No, I saw myself, the hero, being torn apart by the devil."
"You were born to do this."
"Thank you. What's going on with that Brand?"
"You'll find out soon enough, so don't be too surprised then."
Constantine smiled, his smile full of disdain. He leaned his hand on the window frame and looked out the window. His long golden hair floated in the river formed by the blend of light and wind, like golden sand floating up from the bottom of the river and drifting with the current.
It's time to put on more clothes. I caught a cold again.