When Angela heard the news of her father Albert's death, she was visiting her friend Katrina at the San Francisco Sandy Deaf School. The two were chatting about rock singer Andy Bogard's latest album, "The Curse of Biero," in Katrina's office. "The Curse of Biero" is Andy Bogard's most ambitious and adventurous endeavor, and every song in the album is filled with a sense of threat and despair.
Angela met Katrina at one of Andy Bogard's concerts. Their shared interests bonded them immediately, and they quickly became close friends. When Angela was in San Francisco, they would often go to rock bars together, drinking and listening to music.
"I've been so busy lately that I, a superfan, haven't listened to this album yet," Katrina said, pressing the button on the American coffee machine. "I heard that after the Super Brainwave outbreak, the digital sales of 'The Curse of Biero' soared threefold."
"Music is the solace in human despair!" Angela closed her eyes, listening to Andy Bogard's heavy metal voice, "We live joyfully, even if we die tonight."
"Thankfully, my children are safe and sound," Katrina handed a steaming cup of coffee to Angela.
"None of the kids at the Sandy Deaf School contracted the Super Brainwave ?" Angela asked, surprised, as she took the coffee.
"Not a single one!" Katrina's brown eyes softened with gratitude.
It was surprising for Angela to hear this since the school was located in a hotspot of the Super Brainwave outbreak.
"And the teachers?"
"The situation with the teachers is worse. Seven have been confirmed to have it," Katrina said, her face slightly frowning but her voice still gentle. "The school has been notified and will suspend classes starting next week."
"How come the teachers got infected, but the students didn't? What preventive measures did you take for the children?" Angela felt foolish asking the question, given she was at the forefront of Super Brainwave research.
"Does a mask count?" Katrina turned down the music volume, hoping to ask Angela more about the Super Brainwave .
"At least it offers some peace of mind…" Angela replied with a bitter smile. But before she could continue, a phone ring interrupted their conversation.
On the line was a man introducing himself as Officer Coleman from the San Francisco Homicide Division, informing her he was investigating the murder of her father, Professor Albert, and needed her cooperation.
------
When Angela arrived at the San Francisco Police Department, Officer Coleman and a man named Chen Chen were already waiting for her. After receiving Angela's call, Chen Chen had immediately rushed over. His flamboyant purple flannel suit looked particularly out of place. The news of Professor Albert's death had deeply affected him. If it was his own father who had pushed him into scientific research, then Professor Albert had been his beacon in the field. Chen Chen tried to calm his emotions.
Chen Chen was sensitive, which often drew criticism from his father when he was young. However, Professor Albert believed that while Chen Chen was rational, he also had keen perceptual abilities and a rich emotional world, which would be beneficial in exploring the mysteries of science, as emotions could offer boundless creativity.
Angela was dressed simply in a light blue shirt paired with skinny jeans. Her youthful make-up was playful, but her face was now incredibly pale. Her sparkling blue eyes were filled with tears, but her youthful energy still shone through.
"Professor Chen! This can't be real! It can't!" When Angela saw Chen Chen, she couldn't hold back her tears.
She couldn't believe the news. On her way there, Katrina's car radio had been repeatedly broadcasting the news: "Renowned neuroscientist Professor Albert was found dead at Stanford University's laboratory at 5 pm today!"
The news was brief, only mentioning Professor Albert's death. But the media was quick to flood the internet and radio with details about his life, achievements, and anecdotes. As Albert's adopted daughter, Angela couldn't escape the media's attention either.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
"My father couldn't have been murdered!" Angela looked into Chen Chen's eyes, struggling to control her emotions. She desperately hoped he would tell her they were mistaken and it wasn't her father who had died. But all Chen Chen could do was gently pat her back, as if urging her to accept reality.
Though not her biological father, the bond between Angela and Albert was genuine and deep.
"Miss Angela, I'm Officer Coleman, who called you," Coleman's emotionless voice intervened. "As per procedure, you'll need to identify the deceased."
Coleman didn't like dealing with the families of the deceased. He had become numb to their grief but still had to offer sympathy and consolation. He was relieved that Chen Chen, the calm man beside him, was here, so he didn't have to console Angela.
"Let's go, Angela. Maybe they made a mistake," Chen Chen said, offering the only comforting words he could think of, even if he himself didn't believe them.
------
When they entered the morgue, Angela tightly held onto Katrina's hand, hiding behind Chen Chen. She had never been afraid of corpses. The first time she attended a dissection class with Chen Chen, she was the best-performing student. At this moment, she felt scared; she was afraid of seeing that familiar face, afraid that the last sliver of hope would be shattered.
The morgue was so silent that they could hear each other's heartbeat. Angela leaned her head on Chen Chen's back. She distinctly felt Chen Chen's back heaving more and more heavily, his breathing becoming increasingly labored—a torrent of suppressed emotions bursting out—grief. Suddenly, Chen Chen turned around and held Angela tightly.
All their remaining hope was shattered. Angela slowly freed herself from Chen Chen's embrace and saw that the usually stern Professor Chen was now tearful. Angela raised her hand to wipe away the tears from his eyes. Now, she had to face the reality of losing her father.
She dragged her stiff legs, her feet heavy yet feeling numb, almost powerless. Her father lay straight on the morgue table. The light gray cashmere cardigan on him was a birthday gift Angela gave to her father two years ago, but now it was soaked with a large stain of blood.
Her father's face still looked gentle. Angela stretched out her right hand to gently touch her father's face. The coldness under her fingertips reminded her that her father was gone. She bent down and kissed her father's forehead. Her father liked to play games with her. She always lost to him, but a single kiss on his forehead, and he would give her another chance.
How she wished this was just another game her father played with her. She'd kiss his forehead, and he'd open his eyes, telling her, "Angela, I'll give you another chance!" With this thought, overwhelming sorrow surged again, and Angela hugged her father's head, crying bitterly.
"Miss Angela, it's about time. We still need to take your statement," Officer Coleman's cold voice rang out inappropriately again.
Chen Chen took several deep breaths, and finally, his heartbeat began to stabilize, and his mind started functioning. It was an essential quality a scientist must possess—to maintain a calm and rational mind at all times. He walked over to help Angela up, and the moment Angela let go of Professor Albert's head, he noticed a thin suture line on Professor Albert's lower jaw. From the way the skin was pulled, it looked like it had been stitched postmortem.
Why was there a suture line here?! Chen Chen's heart trembled. This was too unusual!
------
The interrogation took place in a small room no larger than 5 square meters. Chen Chen and Katrina were arranged to wait in a reception room.
Angela leaned back in her chair, her body limp. Officer Coleman handed her a cup of hot coffee as a small gesture of compassion for the girl who had just lost her father.
"Miss Angela, we deeply regret the loss of Professor Albert. To quickly find the perpetrator, we need your cooperation," Officer Coleman said, opening a notebook with a heavily worn cover.
"Just ask," Angela said, eager to know who had killed her father. She straightened up, held the coffee cup with both hands, and drank half of it in one gulp. The caffeine could somewhat alleviate her pain.
"Did Professor Albert have any enemies?"
"No!"
"Miss Angela, please think carefully."
"No! My father has been in seclusion for 5 years and has hardly had any social interactions during that time."
"What about 5 years ago?"
"He was a teacher greatly respected by his students!"
"What about his relationships with colleagues?"
"Very harmonious!"
"Were there any conflicts of interest?"
"No!"
"Why are you so certain?"
"My father never conducted research for profit!"
"How was your relationship with your father?"
"Very good!"
"When was the last time you saw him?"
"Last Christmas!"
"You haven't seen him in half a year?"
"I've been studying in China. We are usually very busy."
"Where were you between 4 and 6 pm yesterday?"
"The Central Park Hotel in San Francisco! Do you suspect me?"
"It's routine questioning. Please understand. Do you have an alibi?"
"Professor Chen Chen! He's outside."
"How was your father's relationship with Ulysses?"
"They were friends!"
"Two days ago, Professor Albert announced on his personal social media account that the Memory Extractor would soon enter the clinical phase, causing the stock price of Nofi to plummet!"
Coleman, a black police officer in his early 40s, had always been keenly interested in the development of Alzheimer's disease treatments. His wife was diagnosed with early-stage Alzheimer's a year ago, plunging his life into chaos. No drug could cure or reverse the disease. Over the year, he followed every report related to Alzheimer's treatments, anxiously awaiting a medical breakthrough.
Coleman pinned his hopes on Professor Albert's Memory Extractor, deemed by the authoritative neuroscience journal "Neuron" as the most likely medical breakthrough to save Alzheimer's patients. However, he also knew that Nofi Pharma's Antamin was the only AD drug currently undergoing clinical trials.
Two days ago, Albert's lab announced a major breakthrough in the development of the Memory Extractor and would hold a press conference in a month. The news resulted in a drop in Nofi's stock price. People seemed to have lost faith in drug development, turning their hopes to medical devices. The impact on Nofi Pharma was undoubtedly significant.
At this time, Professor Albert's murder, given Coleman's years of investigative experience, might have been motivated by business interests. In places where business interests run rampant, often only demons are seen, not human figures.
"Ulysses funded the development of the Memory Extractor."
"So you're saying that the Memory Extractor's development also received funding from Ulysses?"
"Yes..."
Their conversation was interrupted by a knock on the door. A tall, young officer came looking for Coleman. Two minutes later, when Officer Coleman returned to his seat, he had a photograph in hand.
"Do you know Professor Albert's female friend?"
"Who are you referring to?"
Angela was puzzled by the sudden change of topic. "Did Professor Albert have a girlfriend?"
"No!"
"Miss Angela, please think carefully again."
"He was devoted to research and had no time for a girlfriend."
"Is it possible there were relationships you didn't know about since you haven't seen him in six months?"
"My father never hid anything from me!"
"We saw a woman visiting Professor Albert on the CCTV footage outside his lab!" "That's impossible, my father hasn't accepted any visitors for 5 years!"
"In the footage, Professor Albert opened the door for her. However, the camera malfunctioned, and no footage was captured after 3 pm."
"So, you suspect she killed my father?" "From the crime scene analysis, it looks like someone familiar did it."
"Why do you say that?"
"There were no signs of a struggle at the scene."
"Who is she?"
"Do you know her?"
Coleman handed over the photo. Although the image was blurry, Angela recognized her instantly:
"It's Xia Nan!"