"The murderer did it on purpose?"

Sheriff Duke wondered.

But in fact, he was moved by another word in Karen's words, that is... art.

a young man,

Even directly use "art" to describe the body of the victim;

Although Sheriff Duke knows that this is what the young man in front of him said from the perspective of the murderer, it is hard not to make him feel that he can organize and complete this description in such a short time without any hindrance. surprised.

But he still wanted to hear the young man continue, and immediately asked, "How did you judge?"

"Obviously, this is not murder of passion."

"Yeah." Sheriff Duke nodded.

Passionate murder corresponds to premeditated murder, that is, there is no intentional motive for murder, but under the stimulation and provocation of the victim, he loses his mind, loses control and kills others.

But this corpse, with so many arrangements and decorations, has long been out of the category of passionate murder, because he has already completed a series of follow-up work on the corpse.

Sheriff Duke turned his pipe and continued to ask, "Why did you judge it? After all, we haven't done a detailed on-site investigation, have we?"

Karen hesitated, then replied, "It feels."

"feel?"

"Yes, how it feels when you see a dead body."

"Is it based on feeling?" Sheriff Duke raised his hand, "No, I want to hear your feeling, can you be more specific?"

"The murderer hid the body under the stage..."

Sheriff Duke said: "So, the murderer is very familiar with the environment of this dance hall, and coupled with what you said before, this accident is not an accident, but if the murderer deliberately created it, then the murderer is either in this dance hall. The staff, either, should at least be regulars at this ballroom.

Oh, sorry I interrupted you again, please continue. "

"I'm just going with my guts, Sheriff," Karen explained again.

"It's okay, you said."

"The dance hall is a very lively place with many people and it is very noisy. Generally speaking, murderers kill people to dispose of corpses, and their main purpose is to destroy corpses and traces. Here, it is completely different.

The reason why the murderer placed the corpse here, and made such a complicated and elaborate arrangement on the corpse, should be that he wants to present him one day in the future... that is, today.

It's like a painting is covered with a red cloth after the artist is finished, and when the guests arrive, the red cloth is uncovered to reveal the work in front of people's eyes.

in addition,

Placed under the stage, I think there is another layer of meaning. "

"Another meaning?"

"Although it wasn't a passion murder, the murderer obviously carried a very strong hatred."

"You can rest assured. After investigating the identity of the deceased, we will investigate the social network of the deceased, focusing on those who have contradictions and opposites to the deceased."

"No, no, you misunderstood what I meant. The hatred I said is different from the hatred you understand, Sheriff."

"Different?"

"It should not belong to the grievances caused by friction in the circle of life activities such as colleagues, relatives, neighbors, and friends, and finally turned into a motive for murder to complete the murder.

The hatred I'm talking about is on another level.

you see,

The murderer paid too much attention to details in the handling of the deceased's body. It not only had a strong religious meaning, but also expressed artistic emotions similar to that of a sculptor. "

"I can understand the words you said, but when they are connected, I have some..."

"You come with me."

At this moment, Uncle Mason had already led the crowd to carry the seriously injured person out. In the infield, only Cullen and Sheriff Duke were left.

Because both Sheriff Duke and Karen screamed when the body in the hole in the center of the stage was found, so in the previous chaotic environment, no one else even noticed that there was a body that did not belong to this "accident" corpse.

Karen stepped off the stage and walked towards the seating area. The layout of this ballroom is very similar to that of a theater. In fact, before the ballroom opened, this was a theater in Luojia City.

Therefore, when the stage goes to the "audience seat", that is, the booth area, it is an upward step.

Karen continued to walk up, and when he reached the middle position, he stopped.

Here, there are very tall small coffee tables, so small that they can only hold a few glasses of wine, and there are no chairs next to them. If you want to sit comfortably, you have to spend extra money to open the front deck.

Here, it's just to put a glass for you, and then use it when chatting with friends. Of course, if you are a girl, you can go to the front seat to make a table and drink freely.

Unlike Uncle Mason who washed his hands with gold, Ron is a frequent visitor to this ballroom. This area is also his main area, because there is no minimum consumption here.

A piece of music only takes three minutes and costs 5 rupees for three minutes. Even if Ron's income is good, he actually spends a lot of money, so he can't find dancers to dance to his heart's content.

Most of the time, he took a glass of beer he bought, kept dipping his lips, and looked around, looking at those "ragged" beauties;

I have to wait until the most beautiful and favorite person appears before I invite her to dance a song or two. Immediately after the dance, give the dancer the money for the song, then leave the stage, come back here, and continue to use the cup. The beer smeared his lips, and while he was slowly savoring it, he slowly looked for the next dance object.

These are all on the way here by car, Ron told himself, he is very proud, because he has extended the happiness to the extreme with the smallest cost.

Karen turned around, and Sheriff Duke was standing behind him.

"Sheriff, please turn around."

"Okay."

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Sheriff Duke turned and stood half-height, facing the stage below.

Karen's voice came from behind him.

"Sheriff, please use your imagination, this is no longer the ballroom where the stage collapsed, it is now operating normally.

Listen, the tune has been released, it's the cheerful "Luo Jia Elf". "

It's a cheerful piece, and Aunt Mary likes to play it when she's working in her studio.

"Look, the lights have gradually dimmed, and the guests have chosen their dance partners and walked onto the stage.

You see, in the middle of the stage, there are hundreds of pairs of men and women, embracing each other and dancing together.

There were indeed a few couples outside, who were dancing ballroom dancing seriously. Although the dance was not perfect, it was still normal.

Inside, the male customers were sticking with the dancing girls one after another, their hands slipping to where they shouldn't be, and they kept rubbing.

You listen, the sound of hormones, crunches and rolls constantly on the stage;

You see, all this in front of you is a concentrated expression of human nature desires. Everyone is close to each other, using the cover of each other's bodies to tear off the disguise, and even seek a kind of public pleasure.

You look up again,

The glass stage above is another exciting landscape.

Morality, ethics, restraint, etc., have all been thrown off the stage, money and primitive desires have begun to show their teeth and claws, and they should be ashamed to see the side of people, but here, on the two stages in front of you, become grand . "

With Karen's narration,

A similar scene seemed to really appear in front of Sheriff Duke. At this moment, light and shadow began to interweave and change.

"Please put your eyes on the stage again, in the center of the stage, then go down slowly, slowly, and finally, fall below the stage.

please tell me,

What do you see? "

Sheriff Duke replied, "A corpse, a corpse with a Berry Bible on its chest, in a certain mocking pose."

"Then, please tell me, what is his posture?"

"Lying down."

"Oh, is it?"

"Isn't it?"

"You are standing here now. Please take a closer look. Is he... really lying down?"

Sheriff Duke's eyes narrowed, because of the height, when his consciousness perspective was further switched, he couldn't help but exclaimed:

"No, he's not lying down, he's standing; and the people dancing on the stage, they're actually lying down!"

Suddenly,

Sheriff Duke clenched his fists sharply.

Because he suddenly realized something,

That is, this position is the position of an observer, no, it is the position of an appreciator.

Sheriff Duke slowly turned his head to the left,

In his "sight", a black figure seemed to appear, he was standing there, standing beside him, with a smile on the corner of his mouth, admiring the dynamic picture in front of him.

He...is the murderer!

Sheriff Duke reached out his hand subconsciously, trying to catch him;

But at the moment when his hand touched the shadow, the shadow dissipated, and all the light and shadow around it also dissipated, returning to the messy appearance in reality again.

There was no other sound, except for his own slightly heavy breathing.

Sheriff Duke looked back at Karen and said, "That's a guy who enjoys killing people, he's appreciating it."

things are serious.

Accidents, no one can predict, casualties caused by accidents, relatives and friends will grieve;

But a perverted murderer is different. His existence can make the entire Luojia City panic.

"He doesn't actually think he's killing people, he's painting, he thinks he's presenting an art."

"The Bible taught by Berry, the flower pot on the stomach, the middle finger, the naked body, these..." Sheriff Duke frowned slightly. "These, it seems... it seems..."

"Sheriff, you're trying to say that none of this seems to matter, isn't it?"

"I... feel that way."

"Because the sense of picture is enough, no, more precisely, because these arrangements are all supporting roles to fill the painting and make the picture feel more stylish."

"So, whether it's the flower pot, the middle finger, "Song of the Soul", it's actually meaningless to investigate these, it's not the murderer's deliberate expression, but the murderer's casual collocation?

It is even possible that this corpse, whose identity I don't know yet, is probably not a follower of the Berry Cult? "

Karen nodded, but still reminded: "But the Berry Cult yearns for nature, and nature is a kind of nature."

Sheriff Duke: "Yes, some Berry believers like to organize parties that gather crowds, they also regard this behavior as a way of expressing closeness to nature, and this element happens to be consistent with the scene on the stage. The scene echoed.

Therefore, the murderer is not a Berry Cult, nor does he hate Berry Cult. His hatred comes from this attitude, no, it is what he hates, which is contrary to what Berry Cult advocates. "

"The sheriff is right, artwork without emotional catharsis is just a delicate stack without nutrition. It cannot bring happiness to the creator. Hate can also be a kind of happiness, and happiness needs to be substituted.

This corpse is not punished here, he is not the target of the murderer's punishment, but the carrier of the murderer's substitution.

The murderer is standing here, looking at everything in front of him, he can assume that he is standing there, and the two men and women dancing and dancing on the stage are the objects of his hatred and jokes.

He was standing, the men and women were lying down, he was like a god, looking down on the filthy beings, this is a kind of hatred beyond the ordinary sense. "

Sheriff Duke nodded, then shook his head again: "I seem to have caught something, but I don't have a big clue, the murderer, substitute, then, there may be no hatred between the murderer and the deceased... It may even have a very good relationship. , very close, because only then can the murderer be on the dead..."

Karen smiled and said, "Find a sense of substitution."

Sheriff Duke tapped himself on the head with his pipe,

Self-deprecating laughs twice:

"Ha ha..."

Subsequently,

He breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I think what you just said is completely groundless, it's all speculation and fabrication, but I think what you said is very reasonable."

"I'm just doing my duty as a good citizen to maintain goodness and order in this city."

"In the next investigation, I will focus on the close people around the deceased. The closer I am, the more I pay attention."

Karen didn't speak.

"Are you from the Inmelles family? What's your relationship with Mason?"

"I'm his nephew, he's my uncle."

"Oh, I knew that you shouldn't be a guy from his family. You are so handsome, you don't need to be a corpse carrier if you want to make money. You can stand here and wait for those wives to spend money to invite you to dance. "

After speaking, Chief Duke, who thought he was very humorous, laughed.

Karen just agreed with a polite smile;

He has gotten used to it, this world is always full of malice towards good-looking people.

"My name is Duke Malraux, you can call me Duke of the cigarette holder."

"Karen Inmelis."

"Karen, how old are you this year?"

"Fifteen."

"Tsk, Mason has a very powerful nephew. The experience just now is the first time since I investigated the case."

At this time, a police officer started to come in.

"If the case progresses... no, whether the case progresses or not, I'll come back to you, Minker Street... 13, right?"

"Yes, Sheriff."

Sheriff Duke turned around and shouted to the police officer who had just entered:

"There is a dead body under the hole in the middle of the stage. Protect the scene, then contact the bureau and ask for new police reinforcements."

As he continued to walk down the steps, he turned his back to Karen and whispered:

A nephew who can sympathize with a perverted murderer.

Just after taking a few steps down, Sheriff Duke suddenly stopped again and looked back at Karen:

"and one more thing."

"I am listening."

"When I just checked the corpse, I found that the corpse had been embalmed to a certain extent. In addition, it is winter, so the corpse will not decompose so quickly. The murderer can continue to enjoy this kind of happiness or hatred.

Why did he choose to present the corpse in this way...the artwork?

I can understand what he's trying to show, but I think he could have played a little longer, couldn't he? "

Karen looked at Sheriff Duke and replied, "It's possible that the murderer is getting tired of the old."

Sheriff Duke's pupils shrank slightly: "You mean, the murderer has found a new target?"

"Do not."

"Oh~" Chief Duke breathed a sigh of relief.

Karen continued:

"The murderer may be appreciating it now."

...

Karen walked out of the dance hall and when he came outside, he saw that two ambulances had been parked here. Many injured people were being carried into the ambulances, and the previously chaotic scene had returned to a certain order.

But what made Karen a little embarrassed was that the "Nutshell" brand modified hearse of the Inmelis family had disappeared.

Uncle Mason was busy transporting "guests", so he didn't notice that his nephew wasn't actually in the car!

In desperation, Karen was about to take a taxi home.

Previously, the reason why he took the initiative to help Duke do a criminal psychology profile was not because he was a detective addict, but because he had an urgent need to socialize. Make some preparations for the future, for example, get to know some more people.

If you hide your clumsiness, it's really unnecessary. When a grandfather in your family has been weighing whether to kill you or not, what kind of clumsiness are you hiding?

At this moment, a taxi stopped in front of Karen.

A man got on and off the taxi. The man wore a peaked cap, a hooked nose and a pointed chin.

After he got out of the car,

Karen sat in naturally, but after sitting in, she found that there was a woman in a gray dress in the back seat who was sleeping with her head against the window.

The taxi driver turned around and shouted:

"Ma'am, ma'am, you've reached your place."

The woman was woken up, and while opening the door from her side and getting out of the car, she muttered with a little complaint:

"The boss is really, the police station said it was an accident, how could it be related to the strange demon, and you have to come here to take a look, hey, boss, wait for me!"

"Sir, where are you going?"

"gentlemen?

gentlemen? "

"Ah, huh?" Karen responded absentmindedly.

"Where are you going, you have to tell me where I can take you there."

"13 Minker Street."

"OK."

The taxi started.

Karen silently spread out her clenched left hand, looking at the burn scar of the cross on it.

She just said, Alien?

this moment,

Karen suddenly felt a guilty conscience and an extremely uncertain sense of fear.

the world outside home,

It doesn't seem so nice...