Jason didn't open the door immediately.
Instead, he entered the bedroom, opened a gap in the curtains, and looked out carefully.
The same number as he had just heard and judged.
At this moment, in front of his door, five people were gathering there.
Three are holding a camera high, one is holding a microphone, and the other is holding something like a recording pen.
"reporter?"
"TV station?"
"what happened?"
Jason looked at the five people and frowned.
According to the background introduction, it is impossible for "he is a low-level writer" to be ignored. Even if something happens, at most it will be published in the cracks of the local newspaper.
This obviously professional-level interview
Don't even think about it.
unless…
Something truly sensational happened.
With such a guess, Jason walked towards the door.
He didn't arrange his clothes.
Before he knew enough about this 'writer Jason', Jason thought it was better to keep himself as he was.
click, click
The moment the door opened, the flashing lights flickered.
Almost at the same time, a microphone was poked in front of him.
"Mr. Jason, how do you feel about someone imitating the plot of your novel to kill people?"
"What do you think of the murderer?"
"Will he be someone you know in your life?"
The interviewer with the microphone in hand asked directly.
Imitate my novel to kill
Jason was visibly taken aback.
Before opening the door, he had guessed a lot of things, such as being accidentally involved in the assassination of a certain important person or a situation that threatened the safety of the entire city, but he never thought that someone would "imitate his novel to kill people"
What are you kidding
Isn't such a thing the plot of a novel
How could it happen in reality
and…
Does anyone really read 'his' novels
Jason glanced at the background involuntarily: As a well-known local writer, in the past ten years, you have only written one fairly best-selling book...
He seems to have a certain understanding of the evaluation of "has a considerable reputation" and "is still a bestseller".
At the same time, he thought of the blade in the cowhide envelope just now.
Is there any relationship between the two
Jason thought to himself.
However, he immediately returned to his senses.
Because these are not the most important for the time being.
The important thing is that the current him doesn't even know what the previous 'he' wrote.
Can't answer the interviewer's question at all.
And the excited light in the other party's eyes obviously wanted to dig out some big news from him.
Jason was sure that if he said something like 'no comment', then a report full of wanton fabrications and speculation would be released immediately.
So, he replied with a straight face——
"It's wrong to break the law!"
"Abiding by the law is the duty of each of our citizens."
"I hope the police will intensify their efforts to solve the case, bring the murderer to justice, and get justice for the victim."
After speaking, Jason just looked at the interviewer in front of him.
The other party obviously didn't expect Jason to answer like this.
For a moment, the interviewer was a little dazed.
However, Jason did not.
He looked down at the interviewer in front of him.
The shadow formed by the height difference directly enveloped the opponent.
"Any thing else?"
"If it's okay, I'm going to continue writing."
"Your sudden visit has already disturbed me."
Jason said "bluntly", with a natural expression of displeasure on his face, combined with the shock formed by his height and strength, he swallowed back the words that had just reached his mouth.
"No, no more."
The interviewer stammered.
"Um."
Jason nodded and closed the door.
boom!
The interviewer came back to his senses amidst the sound of the door panel hitting the door frame.
He raised his hand subconsciously, wanting to knock on the door, but finally retracted.
He dare not.
Just now, he felt as if he was being targeted by some terrible beast.
There is a feeling that as long as he talks nonsense, he will be torn to pieces and eaten.
"This Jay, Jason is a writer?"
Turning around, the interviewer questioned his colleague.
"Um."
"I've confirmed that he is indeed a writer. He has also written a novel that is somewhat famous and is very popular in small circles."
"However, there is only that one book, and the rest are not very good."
"Now many people are questioning him, thinking that the book was not written by him at all."
The recorder with a recording pen on the side said with certainty.
"A writer who looks like a butcher and is stronger than a wrestler?"
"Are you kidding me?"
"Why doesn't he go to the professional wrestling league? With his size, he will definitely win the championship. This is more profitable than writing a book."
The interviewer grumbled.
He is venting his dissatisfaction that his purpose has not been achieved.
Of course, there is also the fear in my heart.
"What should we do now?"
"The interview time is too short to form the entire report time."
asked the recorder with the tape recorder.
"Mainly focus on that case, then edit the scene just now, and broadcast it at the end to make up the time for the whole story."
After speaking, the interviewer walked downstairs quickly.
He really didn't want to stay here for a moment.
Moreover, I will never come to interview this guy named Jason again in the future.
He always felt that this Jason was not a writer.
As for the previous book
It must be that Jason obtained the writer's draft through some means, and then published it.
That writer must have been treated horribly.
Maybe it was already killed by this Jason.
What a poor writer.
With such speculation, the interviewer left in a hurry.
Jason in the room heard the conversation of these people clearly.
He was not surprised by the interviewer's evaluation.
Just in order to finish the so-called 'interview' quickly, he unconsciously revealed a little breath.
Although it is only a little bit, it is enough for ordinary people.
The other party quickly ended the interview as he wished.
But what the other party said reminded Jason.
"Can I go to a wrestling match and write an autobiography?"
Jason seriously considered the feasibility of this matter.
Finally, Jason shook his head.
He has confidence in wrestling, but the time is too long.
In the beginning, even if he had the status of a 'writer', it was just a gimmick, and he would never be recognized, let alone sell an autobiography, unless he could win a championship or something.
But it is too difficult to complete this within 120 days.
And step by step to sell at least 100,000 new books within 120 days
It is also difficult.
In particular, it must be purchased voluntarily by others, and one person can only count as one copy.
We must think of a way.
Jason walked back to the study while thinking, and put the hockey mask and machete in the drawer behind the bookshelf.
Now that the reporter is here.
Will the police be far behind
The police came faster than Jason had imagined.
Just two minutes after Jason put down his mask and machete, there was another knock on his door.
Boom, boom, boom!
"Hi, I'm Sheriff David."
"Mr. Jason, are you there?"
Amidst the rhythmic knock on the door, a very polite voice came.
After Jason opened the door, the sheriff, who was about forty years old, dressed in civilian clothes and had a beard, but had clean clothes and shoes, smiled slightly.
The other party's smile has a considerable affinity, and he must be called a sunny handsome guy when he was young.
And now
Also very charming.
Especially when the other party is quite polite.
"Sorry to bother you, Mr. Jason."
"This is my assistant, Hunter."
The middle-aged police detective pointed at the young man beside him.
This is an unsmiling young man, wearing a formulaic black suit, white shirt, and black tie. He stood there without saying a word. When David introduced him, he only nodded to Jason.
"This is my identification."
Then, the middle-aged police detective showed his ID and handed it to Jason to make sure that Jason could see it clearly.
Hunter did the same.
Jason scanned the two documents. The photos on them belonged to the two of them, and the names were confirmed. The police numbers and stamps were also very clear. They were not shoddy and cheap, but should be real.
"Can we go in and talk?"
After Jason nodded and motioned for himself to see clearly, the detective asked.
"Um."
Jason nodded and turned his body sideways.
"excuse me."
David said apologetically.
This way of dialogue will obviously shorten the distance with strangers.
On the other hand, the young man Hunter still maintained the appearance that strangers should not enter, but his eyes quickly scanned his surroundings.
Obviously, this is watching.
One that draws attention with kindness and one that calmly observes the surroundings
Jason looked at the combination in front of him and thought silently in his heart.
Then, he sat down on the sofa calmly.
He chose the sofa with his back against the wall. Sitting here, he could clearly see the door and the door leading to the bedroom.
Although he had covered it up, Jason would not let anyone enter his bedroom and search it easily.
As for whether the young man in front of him will do this
After entering the room, the other party looked at the bedroom door at least three times.
Although the other party behaved like strangers should not enter, this is enough to explain everything.
"Please sit down."
After sitting down, Jason said.
"Thanks."
David was still smiling.
He sat opposite Jason, and then the expressionless young man stood behind him.
"Mr. Jason, do you know why we are here?"
The middle-aged police detective asked with a smile.
"Know."
"A reporter came here just now."
Jason replied.
This is a fact, there is no need to avoid it.
"Then you can tell me, what do you think?"
The middle-aged detective continued.
"It's wrong to break the law!"
"Abiding by the law is the duty of each of our citizens."
"I hope the police will intensify their efforts to solve the case, bring the murderer to justice, and get justice for the victim."
"That's what I said before."
"And now, so do I."
Jason repeated his previous words completely, and firmly expressed his position.
The middle-aged police detective was taken aback.
Like the interviewer, the middle-aged detective didn't expect Jason to say that.
But unlike the interviewer, the middle-aged detective snapped right back to his senses.
"Thank you Mr. Jason for your support."
"Then can you tell me some of your guesses?"
"You know, it might help us."
David was very sincere, and even used honorifics in his words.
A look of embarrassment appeared on Jason's face just right.
He knew that this was just the other side's words.
But it didn't stop him from pushing the boat along.
You know, he also has some troubles here.
The middle-aged detective clearly noticed the embarrassment on Jason's face.
He never thought that a temptation would yield something, it was really an unexpected surprise.
Faced with such an unexpected surprise, he will never let it go.
"Mr. Jason, do you have any difficulties?"
"Please let me know if you can."
"I will do my best to help you."
David became more and more sincere.
Jason seemed to be moved by these words, he stood up and walked towards the bedroom and study.
After David and Hunter exchanged glances, they immediately followed.
The two stood on tiptoe and carefully avoided the piles of books on the ground. When they came to the desk, they saw an extra cowhide envelope in Jason's hand.
"I found this when I got the newspaper out of the mailbox this morning."
"No signature or address."
"Inside is a blade."
Jason said and handed over the cowhide envelope.
"blade?"
The middle-aged detective's eyes lit up.
The young man also stopped looking around and stared at the cowhide envelope.
"um, yes."
"I was taken aback, too."
Jason said along the way.
"Can you be sure who will receive it?"
asked the middle-aged detective.
"It should be between 7.10-7.17. I can't confirm the specific date."
"I'm a writer, and I've been writing in retreat these days."
Jason answered.
"is that so?"
"Don't worry, leave it to us, we will help you find this guy."
"If there is anything else, please contact me."
The middle-aged police detective, who had gained a lot, was not going to stay any longer, took out a business card and handed it to Jason, and then took his assistant to get up and leave.
"Please stay."
At the door, the detective nodded and said.
Jason stopped in his tracks cooperatively, and after watching the two leave, he closed the door.
And beyond the perception of ordinary people, he continued to hear the conversation between the police detective and his assistant.
"Sheriff, why don't you ask more about the case?"
"Do you think he will?"
"Even if we don't say it, it's still a contest, and we can find flaws in this contest."
"Contest?"
"I would only think it was a false alarm. People were staring at the writer. I wanted to know his every move. Then, I adjusted the nearby surveillance. I wanted to know who sent the blade to our writer."
"By the way, bring me a book he wrote called, called Cross Street Pervert."
"Sheriff, it's not Cross Streets, it's Cross Streets Stalker."
"Isn't a stalker just a pervert? What's the difference?"
The assistant corrected the sheriff's words.
The sheriff seemed indifferent.
Jason was not surprised to hear the sergeant's slightly cold order with a completely different smile from before.
In front of strangers, everyone hides.
All that is shown is a mask.
Only in front of his own people will this mask be revealed.
As for taking it off completely
That is impossible.
This is human self-protection.
Others are like this, so is he.
"Crossroads Stalker?"
Jason muttered to himself, and began to search the room.
Although he is not a writer, as a writer, he will definitely collect his published books, and the more successful ones will be placed in a conspicuous place and properly kept.
Even if you live in another place, you will take it with you if you have the opportunity.
And just as Jason expected, Jason found the book on the shelf in the middle of the three bookshelves, in the most conspicuous position.
He raised his hand and took out the book.
Jason sat at the desk and began to read carefully.
Someone has already imitated killing people from the book, and he, the 'author', of course needs to know what's going on.
Sitting at the desk, Jason began to flip through the book.
For the next four hours, the only sound left in the study was the sound of pages being turned.
"Cross Street Stalker" is a reasoning book with a little fantasy color.
The protagonist is a low-level detective who has failed in life. After divorcing his wife, he lives alone in a small two-story building in the suburbs. The first floor is the detective office, and the second floor is the living room. The small building was rented, and he owed the landlord one month's rent. After promising to help the landlord find the lost dog, he was not evicted.
And the cause of time also began with cats.
In order to find the dog, the protagonist had to post a dog hunting notice.
He did it just to try it out.
Who knew that someone actually called and said they knew the whereabouts of the dog.
The protagonist rushed there in a hurry, but he didn't see anyone. However, the dog found it, right in front of his eyes, and tied it to the railing on the side of the road with a rope.
The protagonist didn't think much, and returned with the dog, and returned it to the landlord. According to the previous promise, the landlord waived the one-month rent owed by the protagonist, and promised the protagonist a grace period of two weeks.
In order to collect next month's rent within two weeks, the protagonist hopes to receive more commissions.
Then, someone really came to the door.
This is a husband looking for his wife to have an affair.
The protagonist agreed directly, and charged a deposit.
However, the protagonist's ability is too poor. Facing this simple affair investigation, it is full of mistakes and omissions.
Just when the protagonist thought he was about to fail, he received that strange call again, which told him a location again, where he found an envelope containing evidence of the client's wife having an affair.
The protagonist is already strange at this time, but facing the evidence that he must obtain, he has no hesitation.
Naturally, the commission was completed.
The protagonist gets paid.
With this success, the client introduced more friends here, and naturally, the mysterious phone call still helped the protagonist.
Success after success, the protagonist rose to fame.
Although the protagonist asked who the other party was more than once.
But the other party didn't answer at all, just put the important clue in an important place, waiting for the protagonist to get it.
Day by day passed.
Although the protagonist is still curious about who this 'good-hearted man' is, he needs help from the other party and has to suppress his curiosity until one day...the police come to the door.
The police came to the door with a search warrant and an arrest warrant.
They suspect that the protagonist is involved in the five murders.
And, there is quite a lot of evidence.
The protagonist, who was watched by more than one person, appeared at the scene of the crime with a mysterious expression.
Once was a coincidence.
five times
And as the police asked the protagonist why he appeared at the scene of the five murders, the protagonist suddenly realized that this was where he took the 'clues'.
At this point, more than half of the book has passed.
In the remaining half, the second protagonist appeared.
It was the murderer.
A killer who killed one target in order to hide himself, and then chose four similar targets and mixed the real target among them.
Moreover, this killer is quite cautious.
In order to make his plan more perfect, he also chose a 'scapegoat'.
'The appearance of the scapegoat makes the crime perfect! '
This is what the other party said.
Unfortunately, at the end, the killer was still caught by the protagonist.
Because, the landlord's dog recognized the killer's smell.
In order to lure the protagonist into the trap, the killer deliberately abducted the landlord's dog and treated it well. This made the dog, which is always alert, wag its tail non-stop after seeing the killer, which made the protagonist discover the trick.
Then, the killer was arrested and brought to justice in one fell swoop.
Well…
After flipping through the book, Jason closed the book and mused.
How should I put it, creativity is okay.
But there are many loopholes.
In the first, there are five murders that are not published in the newspapers, but at the end, when the main character captures the killer, the reporters are swarming.
Second, the killer didn't have the slightest bit of killer behavior, but seemed like a happy criminal.
Third, from the beginning to the end, it did not say who hired the killer. Instead, it kept describing the scene of the murder, as if it was real.
"In the first case, the woman with broken arms, the corpse of a woman who lost both arms, was hung upside down in a narrow, dark alley. On the body was written in blood: boring, boring, not fun."
"The second case, Smash Man, except for a head, the body was completely crushed, put in a box and thrown on the road, with a note on the head: boring, not fun."
"The third case, it's normal, a woman whose throat was slit to death, this is the real target, and blood was left on the body: this is the third one, and it's getting less and less fun."
"In the fourth case, the drowned person, a lady was drowned, and there was a letter on the shore: I am ready to end."
"In the fifth case, the lady who was burned to death left a clear message in a letter outside the burning house: It's over, I won't play anymore."
The five cases went through my mind one by one.
Should be the first one now.
Thinking about it, Jason turned on the TV.
He needs more information to confirm, the progress of the case is there.
And at this moment, the phone rang.
Jingle Bell.
When the phone rang for the third time, Jason picked it up.
"Hello?"
"Hello, is this Jason?"
The voice on the other side was a little muffled.
"Yes, you are..."
"I'm John. I sent you a letter before. I've been waiting for your call, but you haven't called, so I'm calling."
"I'm sorry for doing this, I know."
"However, I think this matter may concern you."
Having said this, the deep voice paused.
Then he said slowly -
"My dog was stolen."