Rand was confronting his little monster when the doorbell rang.
It had built a large enough den in the corner of the aquarium...or something, Rand didn't know how to describe that thing.
The snot-like goo turned milky white after being soaked overnight in the water, stuck to the aquarium wall like a beehive, with a circular opening that allowed Munster to get in and out, and the fish food was embedded in the aquarium. Its surface, after being soaked in blisters, presented an extremely disgusting state. And soon Munster himself seemed to realize this, he took the trouble to pick out the fish food with his mouth, and then...
Then no then.
It poked out the fish food, and had absolutely no desire to eat them. Rand soon discovered that the water in the aquarium had an unpleasant smell and became cloudy.
Munster had been swimming nervously beside his disgusting lair while Rand changed the water - then Rand heard the sound of something shattering.
When he rushed to the front of the aquarium, he saw Munster chewing up the coral rock at the bottom of the tank and holding it on the surface of the nest.
Trembling slightly in the current, the stuff covered with pieces of coral stone on the surface was even more disgusting than before.
Rand stared at the thing, goosebumps, then rubbed his temples with a headache.
"Listen, man," he said to Munster through the transparent aquarium wall, whether he really understood or not, "I think you deserve something better, so I'll get that out of the way. , you have no right to say no, understand?"
He said, and then put a ceramic underwater set made for aquatic creatures that he had prepared earlier (it looked like a broken jar, but it was much more beautiful than the one Munster made) on the in the aquarium.
Munster, who seemed a little bit interested in his new home, burst out of the snot and swam around the jar. Rand felt himself let out a sigh of relief, then stuck a slotted spoon in, trying to fish out the scalp-numbing unknown object Munster had made. But soon his intentions were detected by Munster.
Ten seconds later, Rand once again lost a colander.
"Hey, it's not the same as promised!"
Rand yelled at it—it was kind of stupid but it was funny, besides, he started thinking about getting a steel colander.
And, he wasn't discouraged.
Rand went to cut up some chicken breasts, which he knew Munster liked (at least more than fish food), and went back to the aquarium where he tried to distract Munster with the food, and the doorbell rang like that .
Rand felt a little puzzled, because theoretically no one should come to him at this time. Vincent? Oh no, Rand had just spoken to him on the phone yesterday, while he was on his way to some high-level meeting in Switzerland, and Caroline followed him. other people? Rand couldn't figure out who the visitor would be.
After opening the door he saw two men in police uniforms. One was a black man with silver hair, and the other was a white man as strong as a fighter.
They showed Rand their police IDs.
"Rand Sivers?"
The white man licked his lips.
There's something about him that makes Rand uncomfortable, and Rand isn't sure if it's because he's deliberately emphasizing the surname "Severs," or if it's just the fact that the police come to his door. .
"it's me."
Rand said he felt a little nervous.
A bad feeling—a cold current crawled up his back.
He had never wanted to deal with the police since he was fourteen years old, wrapped in a smelly blanket, holding that hot cup of coffee like sugar water, opened his eyes at the police station and had memories. He remembered the feeling that those black uniforms were like crow feathers to Rand, directly equating with tragedy. The coffee that the kind policewoman handed him that day was really hot, and his icy fingers were leaning against the coffee cup, and his fingertips gradually turned red.
And now, Rand felt his fingers start to get cold again.
"Did something happen?"
He heard his own voice sound, a little floating, as if it was coming out of another person's throat.
The tall white man grinned at him with a crooked mouth, with an "I know what you did" look that made one want to punch him.
Rand learned of the plumber's death from two cops—though he didn't even remember the man's face much (the stench was so unbearable that he only remembered that one).
On the surface, their visit to Rand was just a routine inquiry, at least that's the attitude of the black cop. But the other one showed a different face, and his words were rude and aggressive.
…
"Are you sure you didn't see anything? You went to the balcony? So what happened to him in your bathroom and you didn't know? Ha."
His malicious eyes stayed on Rand's face, and then asked, although it was a question sentence, even an idiot could hear the doubt in his tone. Of course, there was something worse than doubt.
"I really don't know," Rand said. He had the urge to yell at the white cop, but he held back. "I did walk away."
He tried to calm himself down, but Tony obviously didn't like it. He got up and walked around Rand's apartment, tsk tsk.
"Vincent Sivers is your brother." He raised his eyebrows at Rand, who was very patient. Old George was behind Rand and glanced at him with obvious disapproval.
It's not a good topic, obviously.
"Yes. Is there a problem?"
Rand felt that his nerves seemed to be tightened by an invisible finger, and his voice became sharp in an instant.
"Of course there is no problem, but I have always been curious. It is said that Shenbai Biotechnology is always doing those strange biological experiments. Don't be in a hurry to deny it. Some people are still protesting, aren't they? So some dangerous It is also possible that the medicines of the president flow out and appear in the homes of some of the president's close friends..."
"I don't understand you."
Rand said his face was ashen and he looked very ugly.
"Tony, that's enough."
Old George walked between the two of them. He gave Rand an embarrassed look and then waved, as if this would drive away the tension that was about to explode.
Tony turned a blind eye to the efforts of old George, and he pouted, showing that annoying mental retardation-like expression. Then he looked towards the aquarium.
"Ha, a fish... Hey George, whoever we arrested last time, oh yeah, didn't that serial killer also have a lizard? It seems like some people always have similarities in their pet preferences. , scales, cold-blooded animals or something, hahahahaha…”
"… "
"… "
Old George and Rand both looked at him in silence. Not getting the expected response, Tony smirked dryly. Then he saw the chicken breasts that Rand had prepared to feed Munster.
"Oh God, don't tell me these are for fish."
As he spoke, he picked up a piece of chicken breast and placed it on top of the aquarium.
"Hey, you can't—"
Rand angrily tried to stop him, but another creature was clearly faster than his master.
The red film on Munster's body burst open instantly, and it rushed straight to the surface of the water.
"Ow—"
Tony jumped up, dropping the sliver of chicken breast and looking at his fingers.
There was a thin line of blood on the pulp of his stubby fingers. It looked like it should have been slightly rubbed. It was not a serious problem, but he looked like a pit bull with a dagger in his butt. screamed with excitement.
"Shit! Oh, shit!!!"
His voice was at the highest point, and honestly, this fussing reaction really embarrassed the other two in the room.
"Come on! Tony!"
Old George gave Rand an apologetic look, then a rare sternness in front of Tony.
"I got bitten by a fucking fish!"
Tony looked at his fingers and yelled angrily.
"Just a bruise, not on your dick, you don't need to be so excited." Old George glanced at the cut on his hand - it didn't look bloody anymore. According to old George's experience, after three days there will probably not even be a scar left there.
"Fucking fish!"
Tony stared angrily at Munster in the aquarium, the fish's tail fin and the membrane on its neck were open as if inflated, and the circular markings behind the eyes were flashing bright red, and it looked whole. The fish swelled a lot, and they were banging against the aquarium wall in anger.
For a moment Rand was worried because Tony looked like he was going to pull Munster out of the water and pinched him to death, and he stood directly in front of Tony, trembling slightly with anger.
"You have food in your hands!" he said to Tony, "and you did it without permission!"
He almost wished that Munster could just bite off the whole nasty guy's finger.
"Look, I don't care if you're a police officer or some other animal advocate (Rand mistakenly attributed Tony's eccentric attitude to being an animal advocate, after all, Deep White did a lot of animal testing - but it was A biotech company!), but what you've done, I think, has exceeded your job responsibilities, and this is the end of our conversation, and I hope you can leave immediately."
Rand raised his voice angrily.
"What did you say? You... "
Tony had obviously never been treated like this before, his face flushed red in an instant, a furious light flashed in his eyes, and at the moment when he was about to burst out, old George rushed over.
He blocked Tony behind him and half-forced him to the door.
"Sorry, Mr. Sivers, he was just a little too hopeful to find out the truth. We really should have left. If you have any clues that come to mind, you can contact us."
He finished quickly, then opened the door and dragged Tony out.
Tony was obviously dizzy, and he even tried to argue with old George at the door.
"What the fuck are you doing, didn't you hear what the goddamn guy said to me... tell me to leave? I'm a fucking detective!"
"You're just a cop!" Old George raised his voice unbearably. "And that's a Severs! They could hire ten senior lawyers to sue you for improper law enforcement... and you are!"
"I… "
"Your behavior today is weird, Tony," Old George suddenly paused. He narrowed his eyes and looked at his partner suspiciously, "Are you really just here to investigate the case?"
Tony turned his head and spat toward the porch.
He didn't directly answer Old George's question: "Shut up your nonsense!" He yelled at Old George viciously, but on the other hand, he finally looked calmer.
A man with bright strawberry hair watched strangely at the altercation between the two policemen.
"Is there a problem? Sir."
The man asked with a smile after discovering that the police had noticed him.
"nothing!"
Tony avoided other people's eyes uncomfortably, and he didn't want to expose himself to too many people's attention.
He showed the man his ID, indicating that it was just an ordinary investigation, and left the apartment with suppressed anger.
Tony felt a slight tingling when he got into the police car that had been scorched by the sun.
"What's wrong?"
Old George looked towards him.
"Damn fish."
Tony looked at his finger, there was no blood on the place where the fish teeth had been scratched before, and the tingling came from there. He cursed the fish, then twisted the car key.
"Nothing," he answered old George.
It's just a bruise—in fact, even he thought so.