The first floor of the Three Cats Inn is completely open, except for an area under the stairs, which is one step higher than the normal ground. The second floor of the Three Cats Inn is like a patio, with tables placed around the second floor. You can see the first floor directly by lying on the railing, so that people on the second floor can also see the performance of the bard on the first floor.
The hotel was still the same as before. The female owner, Mrs. Sang Mei, warmly entertained the two of them. The doctor took Xia De to the second floor and sat down in a secluded corner on the second floor.
Tobysk was still foggy in the afternoon. After all, the city would start steam pipe heating next Monday, and the exhaust gas produced by the factory was much more than normal recently. In addition, the weather was bad today, so although it was still afternoon, the Three Cats Inn still turned on the gas lights. But in order to save gas costs, the light was not very strong.
The doctor went to the third floor to call down his patient, Mr. James, and asked Shad to sit there and wait. Since the doctor had already ordered drinks from the scantily clad waitress, Shad didn't need to do anything extra.
After the doctor left, he sat there and looked at the guests around him. In order to calm Mr. James down a little, Dr. Schneider chose the southeast corner of the second floor. In addition, there were not many guests on Friday afternoon, so Xia De could only see a middle-aged woman with her back to him drinking from a glass on the other side of the second floor opposite the patio.
"A woman drinking alone in a hotel on a Friday afternoon?"
Shad smelled the "smell of a story", but he was not a writer like Dorothy, so although he was curious, he had no intention of investigating.
Before Dr. Schneider returned, the drinks they ordered were delivered, and the person walking up the stairs carrying the tray was none other than the innkeeper, Mrs. Sangmei.
"Mrs. Sang Mei, you are not going to drive the waiters away from the store to save money because there is no business in the afternoon, right?"
Xia De asked with a smile. The female owner, wearing an apron, placed the wine glasses on the table one by one:
"Oh, detective, it's because of Rejade's Hamilton that I personally brought you the drinks?"
Mrs. Sang Mei also smiled and said, after putting the wine glass on the table, she brought a plate of fried beans and placed it in the middle of the table:
"Is this for you?"
"Why?"
Shad blinked.
"I've heard people mention the 'detective's penny problem' these days. Whenever people in town talk about this problem, they always mention us."
Mrs. Sang Mei said:
"It's a thank you, Detective. You've made us more famous."
Xia De reached out and pinched a bean and put it into his mouth:
“Isn’t it a bit stingy to only send a plate of beans?”
Soon after Mrs. Sammy left, Dr. Schneider returned with Mr. James. Unlike what Shad had imagined, Mr. James, though thin and short, did not show any "neurotic" or abnormal behavior.
Mr. James was a middle-aged man in his thirties. He had learned about Shade's identity from Dr. Schneider, and he took the initiative to extend his hand and greet him politely.
When the three of them sat down, Dr. Schneider sat with his back to the wall, Shad sat opposite the doctor, and Mr. Jims sat on the left side of the doctor and on the right side of Shad.
Dr. Schneider's psychological treatment did not require Shade to interrupt, so he sat aside and listened to the doctor asking Mr. James about his schedule this week and the problems he had encountered in recent days.
From their conversation, Shad learned that Mr. James's "paranoia" was not that he felt someone always wanted to kill him, but that he felt that there were many surprises around him, and any disturbance could lead to a fatal crisis.
When he sees someone playing with a dagger, he thinks the dagger will definitely stab him; when he sees a banana peel in front of him, he thinks he will definitely step on it and slip to death; even when he sees wild cats and dogs rummaging through trash cans in the alley, he thinks these wild animals will hurt him.
This psychological problem appeared three months ago. Mr. James is not a native of Tobesk, but an accountant in the northern city of Antro. He sought help from a local psychologist, but it didn't work. It happened that the "Levant Woolen Supply and Marketing Company" where he worked sent him to Tobesk to reconcile accounts with local upstream suppliers at the end of the year, so he found Dr. Schneider through an introduction.
Of course, although the patient himself believed that he might die at any time, in fact, in the three months since he had this "illusion", he had not been injured by any accident except for a few weeks of mild cold. However, as time went by, Mr. James's "crisis perception" became stronger and stronger, and now he is even unwilling to go to a strange place like Dr. Schneider's clinic.
Dr. Schneider tried to analyze Mr. James's mental state from all angles, and prescribed some sedatives and sleep aids for him in the past few weeks. This method can indeed relieve the tension, but it has little effect on Mr. James's "fatal crisis perception."
The conversation between the two lasted for more than half an hour. Dr. Schneider had a preliminary understanding of his patient's psychological changes in the past week, so he signaled that it was Xia De's turn.
Xia De didn't think he could play a big role, but since he was already here, he treated this as a detective investigation:
"Mr. Jims, did you encounter anything special before you suddenly had this strange idea three months ago?"
He inquired carefully.
"Dr. Schneider has already analyzed with me the past that may have had an impact on my mentality."
Mr. Jeams shook his head slightly.
"No, no, I mean, have you ever been to a cemetery, an abandoned country church, or a strange shop in an alley, or bought a strange pendant, a weird statue, or an old book with a leather cover?"
Shade asked with a serious expression, and Mr. James thought for a moment before he understood what he meant:
"Detective, you're saying..."
"It's just a possibility. Although I don't agree with introducing theology into the study of spiritual science, sometimes we have to consider various reasons."
Xia De said, and Dr. Schneider beside him nodded:
"That's why I brought the detective here. Of course, you don't have to pay the detective any extra fees for this."
Mr. Jeams was relieved. He recalled:
"Sorry, I don't think I've ever been exposed to anything weird."
"I see..."
Xia De thought about it and came up with another idea:
"Since you feel that you are always surrounded by fatal danger, why not try to really put yourself in danger? Maybe when you really escape death, the strange psychological feeling will disappear. This is a bit like using poison to alleviate another poison."
“Is there such a detoxification method?”
Mr. Jims asked curiously, but then nodded:
"That does sound reasonable, but how do you put yourself in danger?"
“This is easy.”
Shade reached into his coat, looked around, and then took out the Gun of Kindness from his gun bag. In front of Mr. James's astonished expression, he took it out and slapped it on the table:
"Use this."