The two of them got up early in the morning at the hotel, and at five o'clock in the morning, it was still dark, Holden drove Bronco through the quiet residential area, and Dean rested in the passenger seat, looking at the progress of the skills in the system.

Fighting Lv1 (143/200→144/200)

Shoot Lv 1 (89/200→90/200)

Shadow of the Past Lv1 (24→25/200)

Balance Meditation Lv1 (75→76/200)

Yesterday Holden called to leave, and he found an indoor shooting range in Santa Monica to practice shooting, and at night he fought and mentally tempered, and finally improved the proficiency of several skills.

Although progress is unusually slow, before the final murderer surfaces, the strength can be increased a little bit.

……

"What do you know about St. Quentin?" Dean looked out the window at the rapidly reversing Olympic road sign and asked as the car headed for San Francisco Bay, at the mouth of the lower Sacramento River in northern California.

"Nestled on an isolated peninsula and home to a variety of heinous felons, this prison is the highest-security, oldest, and largest prison in California, and the only one capable of carrying out the death penalty on male inmates."

Holden turned the steering wheel, and the car drove onto I-10E,

"A few years ago, I went there with my old partner to interview Charles Manson, the 'most dangerous serial killer in America,' and documented his journey of leading a criminal organization that killed dozens of people."

"Have you been sentenced to death?" Dean asked.

"No, life imprisonment. The law is now more and more cautious about the death penalty, and the methods are becoming more and more gentle and humane, from beheading, hanging, shooting, electric chairs, poison gas, to drug injection... Even if a prisoner is sentenced to death, he has to queue up to die. A sarcastic smile broke into Holden's mouth, "But most death row inmates die in prison before they reach the day they are executed." ”

Dean was also an eye-opener, "Why should the law be so merciful to felons?" ”

Holden explains,

"I have been working for more than ten years, and I have become more and more aware of the phenomenon that a considerable part of the American population likes moral kidnapping and double standards, lacks empathy for the victims' families, and instead gives the murderer a virgin mercy."

"Thanks to the efforts of a large number of enthusiastic prison volunteers, St. Quentin's inmates can participate in tennis, basketball, drama and other probationary activities, and maybe in the near future they will be able to attend St. Quentin Prison University, and live a much more comfortable life than homeless people."

"Isn't this just sending felons to enjoy themselves?" Dean succinctly commented, "It's a waste of taxpayers' money!" ”

"Who's to say it's not?" "I used to think that people were forced to commit crimes because of a bad environment, but in the process of communicating with these felons, I gradually realized that there are indeed some felons whose humanity still exists. ”

"But the other part, born as demons, will be affected if you stay with them for a long time."

……

A six-hour journey with several tosses.

Holden kept talking to the various systems of St. Quentin Prison in Dean Cop, and by the way, he complained about some of the laws of the United States.

Around twelve o'clock in the afternoon.

They passed by San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge above the Strait before arriving at the 432-acre "prison paradise" of San Quentin.

Surrounded by green water and lush trees, the natural environment is incomparable.

At first glance, Dean thought he was in a small island sanatorium and resort with beautiful scenery.

But the defense was tight, a few steps and a post, patrols were everywhere, and high walls were covered with barbed wire and power grids.

The two parked their cars, entered the prison, and after registering, they were searched by heavily armed prison guards who were comparable to a full-body massage, and did not even spare their hair and mouth.

The process was a bit uncomfortable for Dean, but Holden looked calm.

After confirming that they were not carrying any sharp, sharp, or dangerous props, the guards led them through the middle of several iron gates and a group of tattooed prisoners.

Entered a quiet, bright cubicle.

"What's the point of checking your hair and mouth?" Dean sat down in his chair and looked around casually, the place was like a small cafeteria.

"Don't underestimate the wisdom of prisoners, the hairpin on the head and the braces in the mouth can be transformed into weapons and tools for murder, suicide and escape."

Holden explained casually, and then his eyes lit up.

An Asian man in a pale blue prison uniform was escorted into a cubicle by guards and sat across from them in handcuffs.

The two of them carefully observed and confirmed that it was David Lee who had seen in the archives, but after only two months of transformation, his demeanor changed greatly, as if his thin body could be blown down by a gust of wind, his originally full forehead dried up, his face was unhealthily pale, his cheekbones bulged, his expression was languid, and his eyes were evasive, and he changed from the confident sunshine in the previous photos to submissive.

The child killer was at the bottom of the prison and was a good-looking Asian.

God knows what he's been through for the past two months.

David looked at the two gentlely smiling men opposite, reflexively shrunk his shoulders and moved his buttocks, a trace of fear flashed in his eyes, as if he remembered some painful memory.

"Relax man, we're not going to hurt you, we're investigating a local child murder case that's unexpectedly similar to yours," Holden said bluntly, "Can you talk?" ”

"I want a cup of coffee and a hot dog." David said hesitantly.

"Wait a minute." Holden went out to find the guard, and after paying twenty dollars, he brought the steaming food to David, not only hot dogs, but also precious soaked instant noodles and brioche bread.

Dean is not surprised by this, and in a way, the prisoners are also the source of the prison's income.

David grabbed the hot dog and devoured it, his mouth full of scraps, making a foul popping sound, and eating like he was racing against someone.

After quickly getting rid of a hot dog, he took a sip of hot coffee, breathed a sigh of relief, and began to enjoy the instant noodles slowly.

"David, do you remember Kelly Scott?" Dean spoke just in time, and Holden, who was next to him, turned on the recording equipment.

"Is that girl I've never known, never seen, or touched in my life?" David's hand shook, and half of the instant noodles in his mouth accidentally fell on the table, he immediately picked it up and ate it, "I swear to God that I want to hurt a child, and I would rather kill myself." ”

"And I didn't have any criminal record growing up, not even a single small animal, let alone a person! I don't deserve to suffer these inhuman tortures! ”

Dean nodded quietly, it was normal for David not to know Kelly, after all, Abby didn't know Bucky Fran either.

"David, although the evidence is conclusive and the court has found you guilty, I believe that you are an innocent person. I need your help to catch the real culprit! ”

Hearing such words for the first time in more than two months, David was moved to tears.

"Do you know her?"

Dean put a picture of Abby Clarke on the table.

David picked up the photo and looked at it a few times, shook his head,

"Sorry, I don't have an impression of her, she's a student at Santa Monica University?"

Dean shook his head,

"More than two months ago, on July 22, surveillance footage captured you showing up at Santa Monica Beach, and she was there at the time, and you didn't see her?"

"July 22, the day Kelly was killed?" David sighed, "You may not believe it, but since around July 19th, I have been feverish, my brain has burned into paste, I have asked for leave from school, and I am resting at home to recuperate." On July 22nd, the fever was so bad that I was about to pass out when I was home alone, and I couldn't remember anything in my head, how could I run to the park and kill a child, and then go to the beach to blow the sea breeze! ”

Hiss –

Holden gave Dean a surprised look, this guy asked Abby the same thing in the first place, and everyone including the district attorney was confused.

Now he asked David again, and David's answer was the same as Abby's.

Foresee?

The corners of Dean's mouth were slightly curved, and his eyes flashed with excitement,

"Very well, David, can you show me your wrist?"

A hint of confusion flashed on David's face, but he still pulled up his sleeves as he said and showed his two smooth little arms in front of the two.

No!

Dean stared at his pupils and asked again,

"Before you went to jail, did you get injured in the last few months, leaving a scar somewhere on your body?"

The man's eyebrows furrowed and he recalled for a moment, and reached out to touch the back of his neck,

"How do you know? In May, I had a wound on the back of my neck. ”

"I'll see!"

Dean got up, walked around the table, and glanced behind the man—

A half-finger-long crescent-shaped scar had healed, but the marks were obvious, like a hideous centipede under the skin.

Dean reached out and touched it, and took a few pictures of the scar from Holden's camera, becoming more and more sure that it was exactly the same as Abby's.

"Do you remember that on July 22nd, apart from the fever, did this scar feel anything unusual?"

"That's true." The man said with palpitations, "This scar was re-inflamed, and it hurt to death, like some foreign body drilling into my bones, and I was unconscious." ”

That's right!

Leave a scar - scar pain, fever - mysterious forces begin to operate - commit crimes.

A clear logical chain quickly formed in Dean's mind, pacing slowly in the cubicle, muttering to himself,

"On the day when the scar was the most painful, the mysterious power reached its peak, and the person who planted it committed the crime."

"David Lee, Abby Clarke."

Dean's eyes were hot,

"The two cases, the process is the same, it is not a coincidence that can be explained, so the case is full of supernatural powers, which drove David and Abby to commit the bloody crime! This is how the real murderer works! ”

Holden grinned, rubbing his temples.

And David was bewildered, as if he had listened to a book from heaven,

"This scar is related to my case?"

Di Zhen turned a deaf ear and continued to fall into a daze.

"Ignore him." Holden shook his head and smiled, but he didn't explain, "He thinks a little differently from ordinary people, and occasionally falls into hysteria." ”

David nodded, "And who is Abby Clarke, the girl in the photo?" ”

"Yes, she killed a boy in Las Vegas, there is DNA evidence, there is video, there is witness."

"Isn't this just another me?" David opened his mouth wide, feeling sympathy, "I don't know her, but I believe that she is also innocent, if she has not been convicted, help her, don't let the law wronged a good person, I have experienced this inhuman pain!" ”

"David, you've done me a great favor, and you're about to show your feet." Dean, who came back to his senses, looked into the man's eyes, "But do you remember how the scar on the back of your neck came about?" ”

"May 10th... Somewhere in Santa Monica, I was touched by someone. David looked at Dean with a strange expression, and stopped talking—this guy was asking some inexplicable question.

"Are you sure it's Santa Monica and not somewhere else?"

"Well, I didn't leave the school area for half a year before I was sent to prison."

Dean raised an eyebrow.

"Do you still remember what you were wearing, clothes, pants and shoes in the surveillance video on the day of the crime? Isn't it a completely unfamiliar set? ”

"I was wearing a general-style shirt and slacks, and leather shoes," David said seriously, "and to be honest, I have that." ”

Dean pursed her lips.

In Las Vegas, he deduced from the source of Abby's three-bar tracksuit at the time of the murder, as well as the source of Abby's wrist scar, that the killer's last crime site was Santa Monica.

But now, David actually got a scar in Santa Monica, and there was nothing special about his clothes, so Dean couldn't deduce the location of the last crime in the same way.

He could not continue to pursue past cases.

……

So how do you move forward with the investigation?

Di pondered, his eyes lit up after a moment.

Past cases are hard to trace, but what about the future? The murderer also carelessly left a clue in the future -

On the night Abby committed the crime, he was left with a crescent-shaped scar on the wrist of bar owner Jack!

The scar was passed from David to Abby, who in turn passed it to Jack.

If nothing else, the mysterious power has been transmitted to Jack, and one day in the future, Jack will be like the two predecessors, in a fever and coma, and involuntarily commit a terrible bloody crime.

As long as he is quietly watched, the murderer will appear.

The progress of the system jumped to 60 percent.

"Holden!" Dean suddenly turned to his companion and said eagerly, "Now that the evidence is in front of us, we must keep an eye on the Blackjack Bar Owner, to whom Abby passed the scar!" ”

Holden looked embarrassed,

"Scar hypnosis leads to crime? It was impossible to convince our colleagues, I had to come up with a reasonable excuse. ”

"Hurry up." Dean turned to look at the skinny and pitiful man, and his mind drilled into the situation of yesterday's visit to his old home, "David, did your parents pass away in an accident?" ”

"Accident?" David put down the instant noodle bucket, clenched his fists, and his eyes were red, "It's not an accident!" While I was in the detention center, Kelly Scott's father, in a fit of rage, broke into my house, shot my loved ones, and then killed himself. ”

"He avenged his daughter, but he found the wrong person from beginning to end!" David sobbed heartbreakingly, "I'm innocent!" My poor parents don't deserve it! ”

Dean breathlessed.

The victim's family shot the murderer's family, and the murderer was wronged.

This is truly a human tragedy.

"Mourn, David, it is not only you who have mercy." Holden's eyes flashed with thought, "Kelly's family did not escape the tragic fate, as if they were cursed, they died one after another, first Kelly, then her grandmother, her mother, and finally her father, who lost her mind. All gone. ”

"All dead? I'm the only one left of the two families? David was shaken, and the sadness and anger on his face disappeared, leaving only deep despair and confusion—

It's as if there is a big invisible hand, wantonly playing with these two families, pushing their fate into the bottomless abyss.

The three of them were all in a heavy mood and silently agreed.

The entire chamber fell into an unbearably silent silence, and the air was so thick that it was hard to breathe.

"Sorry for the sad thing that reminded you, so let's stop here today." After a few moments, Holden turned off and put away the recording equipment, and glanced at Dean, who nodded, the scars on the murderer's body and the special state at the time of the crime were verified, and the visit should be over.

"When we catch the culprit behind the scenes, or the case has progressed, we will come to visit you again, and we will do our best to get you out."

"It's not a human life, and all criminals can bully, beat and insult a 'child killer' like me at will. But the matter has come to this point, and it is difficult to recover from the water. David wiped away his tears and gulped down his bread, "Hmm... I don't expect the two of you to get me out, and I'll be thankful if I can get a better environment away from those perverted criminals. By the way, wait a little longer... Not... Wait until I'm done eating, or it won't belong to me later. ”

Dean nodded silently, and then watched David be escorted back to the bar.

The two left the prison and returned to the car.

"Holden, now you say it's possible... Kelly Scott, and even the two families, all the deaths are driven by the real murderer. ”

"The murderer is not a god," Holden said in a flickering tone, "it stands to reason that he can't manipulate the two families, and you can't deify it too much." ”

Not God?

But could it not be a human, but some kind of supernatural monster?

Dean nodded.

It is impossible to be too cautious to go against an existence that even the race cannot be determined!

"No possibility can be ignored, in Santa Monica, the families of the victim and the murderer died one after another, it is no coincidence, in order to avoid a recurrence of the tragedy," Dean flashed back to the heartbroken parents in the LVPD, "We must send people to monitor and protect the parents of the victim Bucky Fran in Las Vegas, as well as the parents of the suspect Abby, day and night, to prevent them from committing suicide or making big mistakes on the spur of the moment!" ”

"Well, Abby is in the detention center, don't worry about it for the time being."

"Then add to that the scarred bar owner Jack," Dean clattered like a machine gun, "and the LVPD must be divided into three groups to carefully and covertly monitor and protect these three targets!" ”

All the risk groups that Dean can think of are under surveillance, and as long as the real culprits dare to come next, how can they escape from their palms?

Progress jumped to 70 percent!

Holden helplessly held his forehead and drove out of the prison parking lot,

"When did you become the director of LVPD? You give orders, and the officers have to honestly run to carry out the orders? Come on, your inferences are all supernatural and can't be explained by science, and there's no way the folks at LVPD will take action on this set of theories! ”

Dean checked the progress of the investigation that had skyrocketed in the system, and the dawn of victory was imminent,

"Have you forgotten, we just got the case files, recordings, and photos of Kelly Scott and David Lee, and handed them to Carl, telling them to compare them with Abby's case, and as long as their brains are not in water, they will definitely believe us."

Dean's eyes flashed with madness,

"When the time comes, we will ambush all the murderer's lines of action in advance!"

"Wait for it to jump into the trap on its own!"

Bang!

Dean slammed his fist on the window glass,

"Let it go nowhere! Confess your sins and be punished! ”

"You're crazy!" Holden stared at Dean for two seconds, and suddenly grinned, releasing a long-lost sickness and madness in his smile, "But I also want to see who the murderer is, you didn't disappoint me this time, I will support you to the end!" ”

(End of chapter)