The sky has completely darkened, James' car is driving towards the back streets of Lister, and the two police detectives in the car are talking about something insignificant -
"Why do you still associate with those otakus?" Detective Coulson held a cigarette in one hand and put the other hand on the window eaves, blowing a puff of cigarette into the side of James' face.
James frowned, not bothering to stop his partner. Coulson shouldn't have been in the car in the first place. He got irritated from work and caught James running outside the police station for a walk, so he forced himself on him. To put it bluntly, he just came up for a ride and then went back to work. If Coulson was not allowed to relax now, it would still be James who would be unlucky to work with an irritable partner after he returned.
Oh, yes, James also has to go back to work, and the drive home now is just equivalent to a day trip. Tonight's game night, James will be absent, he just went back to let a group of homeboys waiting at his door into the house.
"You don't have any real friends, how can you go out to play?" Detective Coulson was still looking for trouble with James. As he spoke, he looked at James who was driving seriously with a teasing look, "A guy like you Guys, you should have no shortage of friends~"
Don't be too naive to think that Coulson is envious of James' youth and wealth. This is a mockery, 'Even if you are so young, rich, and have a bright future, you still have no friends! 'Coulson knows best, hey, this is the life of a police detective.
James didn't want to pay attention and glanced at his partner, "If you leave cigarette ashes in my car, I will tell Mrs. Coulson where your cigarette is hidden."
Coulson's eyes twitched and he turned away from trying to squeeze James.
You can see Fitz's car parked on the side of the road - a bus for otakus. The spray paint of various fantasy characters is very conspicuous under the street lights. At the same time, James also saw the old car parked next to the bus, Grande's.
After a slight hesitation, he stopped the car in front of the intersection, "You stay here! I'll be right back." Without giving Coulson time to react, James had already taken out the key and locked the door. Coulson looked speechless. While watching, he trotted towards his home.
This is not to prevent Coulson from laughing at Fitz and his group in front of their faces, but to prevent Coulson and Zach from running into each other, which would be embarrassing, as everyone knows.
This proves Coulson's disdain for Fitz and other otakus. Hey, when James walked into the exclusive corridor of his home, a group of otakus were playing with his lift...
"Hey! James! You're back!" A few heads were stuck in the middle of the elevator's fence. As the platform rose, they shouted to James below, "Go down, come down, don't go up, go down, go on." James!”
"Uh... how to go down? The lever is upstairs..."
James prepared to take the stairs. He strode up and down the stairs until he was blocked by two guys sitting on the stairs.
The person blocking the stairs has not realized it yet.
The guy who looked like Benjamin smiled at James and whispered deliberately and inexplicably, "Shhh, he doesn't want to be disturbed~"
"Still, you should seize any opportunity to speak." Zach didn't look at James or pay attention to 'Benjamin' sitting next to him, but still stared at the, uh, small thing in his open palm. The twisted thing was just like what was inside when he opened the ball of paper passed by Louise in the morning. It looked like a cigarette but was not a cigarette. The bent and twisted cigarette was wrapped with brown tobacco.
"Tsk! Make way!" James kicked Zach's shoes.
Zach looked away from his palm and looked at James. Without letting go, he put his palm in front of James, "What is this?"
"Smoke? Uh, how do I know!" James waved his hand irritably, slapping Zach's palm away, "Make way!"
Zach cautiously grasped the thing that was almost knocked away, with a serious look on his face, "Be careful! This thing is very fragile!" Then he carefully stuffed the tobacco that leaked out during the shock back into the wrinkled and twisted cigarette.
James didn't want to find out what Zach was up to, and he didn't want to stay on the stairs any longer—
Did you see the deep scratches on the wall scratched by something unknown? They were the marks left by Sam's struggle when he was taken away by Papa Midnight last week. The place where Zach and 'Benjamin' sit now is the place where Sam tried to break through Papa Midnight's obstruction to 'rescue' Zach who didn't need to be saved, and was kidnapped by Papa Midnight.
At least that's what Zach told James. Well, what did James know? A small chunk of his time was stolen by Papa Midnight.
Carefully wrapping the 'cigarette' in a handkerchief and putting it in his pocket, Zach also stood up, patted himself behind him, and got out of the way. His eyes swept over James' irritable face, "Unless someone likes to sneak up to you. Smoking here, it shouldn’t be here.”
'Benjamin' winked at the side and made a pick-up motion, probably expressing to James the 'Zach picks up' action.
Still, James didn't want to explore what Zach was saying or trying to express, let alone pay attention to 'Benjamin' who was obviously not Benjamin, "I don't have time for you and Luo Suo! I just came back to open the door!" He pushed Zach, who had already moved out of the way, and continued upward.
At the same time, the elevator brought down a bunch of otakus again. When passing by the three of them, "Ah?! James, are you not participating in the game today? Uh, up, up! I'm talking to James!"
"Uh... how to go up? The lever is at the bottom of the building..."
Please don't complain about the functional limitations of this lift. This is a tool for James alone, and the straight up and down function is what it should have.
Zach followed James and raised his eyebrows, "You have a job?"
"none of your business!"
Okay, Zach asked for it, but you can still complain, "Hey, so not only do we have to bring a knight who is a level down and has evil intentions, but we also lose a magician who is the main damage dealer. That's great. Today's game must be It's going to be very, very 'smooth'."
It was the detective's sense of responsibility and the anger against the sinister reality. James turned back and glared at Zach, "Yes! Unless you can get everyone to stop murdering other people!! You have to endure such a 'smooth' game night!”
From the bottom of the stairs, "Zach, let James do his job..." I don't know which otaku with a strong sense of justice.
"I'm just complaining, it's my fault." Zach smiled and glanced downstairs, then shrugged at James, blinking his eyes with a clear meaning, 'Do you need help? 'James said the word 'murder' in his emotion, right.
James, he deliberately took a big step and pointed his butt towards Zach's eye level. This was his answer.
The otakus in the elevator and James arrived at the door at the same time. James opened the door at the front. Looking at him standing by the door, he seemed not to be ready to go in. He just opened the door and would immediately After leaving, of course, the keys were given to Zach, "I don't know when I will come back, lock the door for me!" He warned fiercely.
"Yes, officer." Zach replied solemnly and threw the key to 'Benjamin'. Just when James' face was about to continue to darken, he said, "Before you came back, your phone rang for a long time. I think the other party left a message. Anyway, since you are back, you can probably just listen to the message."
James' eyes twitched and he entered the room with a gloomy face.
The otakus began to occupy James' home in familiar ways, setting up today's dungeon, picking up props and costumes... The otakus would not bother James who needed to go back to work, so the only way to bother him with his work was to It's over.
"Be honest." Zach ordered 'Benjamin', hung behind James, and went straight to the bar. Due to his work as a police detective, James suspected that he didn't use his own bar as much as Zach!
On the contrary, James glanced at 'Benjamin' who was really sitting honestly on the sofa. It was impossible not to be curious, but he couldn't ask in this situation. He curled his lips at Zach and walked towards the phone. .
If possible, James really didn't want to listen to the message when Zach was around, but who was he kidding? Who knew whether Zach would listen to it himself when he was away? Does this vampire have any consciousness? So, stop being pretentious! James looked at the record on the answering machine. An unfamiliar number was displayed on the flashing screen. The time was indeed not long ago. He picked up the receiver without thinking too much and pressed the play button without giving up.
"This is James Lance's house. He can't answer the phone right now. Please leave a message..."
Zach was already getting wine from his snack jar while teasing James wantonly, "Haha, you should change the response message." - A little insignificant thing, the response voice is Georgina The voice was probably a little game between lovers when the two of them were still very happy. I wonder if James recorded the message at Georgina’s home.
Uh, I'm sorry, I shouldn't say such things so lightly.
James' face had a ferocious look, and when he glared at Zach, his face turned dark.
As Zach's movement of pouring wine stopped, he raised his eyebrows with interest and looked at James who was frozen by the phone.
Because the message voice on the receiver was Kate’s—
"Hey~James~" Hehe, James~ "I did something stupid again today~my car got stuck again, and I don't even know where my car was towed~Haha, you are free now Can you pick me up? If I go back directly, my grandmother will definitely complain that I lost her car~ Haha, but if I have a man like you, take me home, haha, my grandmother will definitely I don’t care about those small details~ So. Hehe~ I was in the bar opposite the newspaper office~ And, yes~ I had a little drink~ A girl used some small tricks to 'cheat' a man back home and introduced him to her Family, you need some encouragement~ right~ Haha, don’t expose me~ I’ll wait here~”
There was no sound in the receiver, but James still stood there stiffly.
Zach lowered his eyebrows, swung the glass, took a sip, put it down, and pushed the glass in circles on the bar. Have you ever heard the tiny sound of the bottom of a cup rubbing against a smooth marble table? This voice is amplifying infinitely in James' mind, infinitely amplifying, infinitely...
Snapped!
James pressed the receiver hard, turned and left.
"You know, work is important, but you can't let an 'encouraged' girl with hope stay alone in a bar." Zach reminded him thoughtfully, and added, "Of course, don't worry about it. My feelings are completely unnecessary.”
With a dark face, James's route to the door took a turn and followed Fitz, who was changing into his character costume. "Fitz, can you do me a favor!" That look, that tone, It doesn't really feel like a request.
"Oh well."
"Can you go to xx, the bar opposite Barton Daily News, and help me take someone home? Now!"
"Yes, it's okay." Fitz blinked and looked in Zach's direction with some confusion. Shouldn't it? The keys to James' house are all kept by Zach. Now that he is busy, there is a more suitable candidate.
"Her name is Kate!" James' mood got even worse when he saw Fitz's gaze diverted. "Make sure you explain to her that I'm at work." Just to emphasize, "There was a cross-district murder in the afternoon, and I really don't have time. Go over there, tell her I'm sorry, and make sure she gets home safely! Okay!"
Zach didn't interrupt, 'Benjamin' did. Squinting his eyes, he stared at James, "So now you want to get rid of our only priest with the ability to recover, James? This game is too difficult to play." Remember, 'Benjamin' has evil intentions. .
Zach sipped his wine and looked on.
"It's none of your business..." James instinctively vented to 'Benjamin'.
"No, it's okay, Benjamin." Fitz, as usual, stepped forward when the slightest sign of a dispute appeared, and used his nervous, uneasy tone, as if he had done something wrong to make both parties happy. I was embarrassed to continue, "Zhan, James, I'm going, I'm going now. You, everyone, just remember, before I come back, no, don't trigger the trap!" He took off the clothes he had just worn halfway, "Where, James, tell me again..."
When James told Fitz the address again, Zach stood by the window and looked in the direction of the intersection of Lister Back Street, where James' car was parked.
Inside, there was a bored Detective Coulson, who was impatiently waiting for James to go back. At the same time, Coulson was also flipping through documents that were probably files. Don't overestimate the vampire's eyesight, Zach can't see the contents of the dossier.
But Zach can see other things—
The shadow that was pulled under the street light was distorted, and the manhole cover of the sewer was opened and closed in an instant. Bumi appeared under the shadow of the shadow, hiding behind the car, smiling at Zach and waving. Then he pointed at Coulson in the car. The black shadow covered Bumi's figure again, but his voice began to reach Zach's ears—
"The case he took was Heather's case. Although the death occurred in the West District, her car did not stop on the way from her workplace in the North District to the West District. The police believed that the brakes of Heather's car were damaged in the North District. Eventually leading to her death in a car accident in the West End... "(.)