Conan: I'm really not the mastermind behind the scenes

The employer was not online, so Aaron turned off his computer.

He sharpened the bone quickly, punched a small hole at the top, and inserted a thin silver thread. When he opened the freezer to take out something, there was a knock on the door.

"are you still busy?"

It was his wife's voice, and Aaron relaxed his tense body. He stuffed the gun back into his briefcase, wrapped the bone in sandpaper and placed it on the table. He picked up his pet dog and walked to the door.

He opened the door and smiled brightly: "Okay, honey."

Aaron closed the door again and bent down to place Meade on the ground. As soon as the pet dog's feet touched the ground, he couldn't wait to run towards the stairs.

"It turns out Meade is here. I've been looking for it all day today." Philo was surprised.

The couple went upstairs together. Halfway through, Aaron heard the sound of the TV in the living room suddenly getting louder.

He was startled, and Philo, who was next to him, saw that his expression was wrong and quickly said: "It's Crystal up there."

This name made Aaron's eyebrows jump, and his words were filled with uncontrollable annoyance: "Why is she here?"

Crystal, whose name is Crystal, has a vulgar and mean personality with no sense of boundaries.

He hates such people, but she happens to be his wife's former classmate. The two have a good relationship and sometimes have to deal with each other.

"Her car broke down while driving nearby."

Philo knew his attitude towards this friend, so he slowed down his voice and said in a consultative tone: "You know, there was a serial murder case against women recently. The murderer has not been caught yet, so she did not dare to go back alone at night. , I want to stay here for one night.”

Serial murder case?

Aaron thought for a while, and it seemed that this was the case.

This is the second-highest-profile case recently (the first being the FBI's serial murder case). This case has identified the murderer, a silver-haired Asian man with unshaven hair, and a reward warrant has been issued.

"Just one night?" he asked worriedly.

"Just one night." His wife said firmly.

"Okay." He was helpless.

……

"Philo, you have such a good temper. I will never let my husband keep a room at home that I can't enter. God knows what he will do in there?"

"If I were you, I would definitely find a way to go in and have a look..."

No.

He regretted it.

Sitting at the dining table, Aaron Lucas listened to the chattering female voices, and this thought flashed painfully in his mind.

He cut off a piece of steak and stuffed it into his mouth, silently. Philo looked embarrassed. While carefully studying his face, he tried to divert the topic away from his family.

She paid attention to the latest developments in the FBI serial murder case reported on TV. Today, two more people died in the Riverside Church and the nearby Conservatory of Music where she often went.

"How terrible..." she murmured.

"Yes, the murderer is simply a madman." Crystal said without changing her tone.

She munched on the vegetable salad, looked at the scene on the TV, and asked again: "Where did the first two FBI cases occur? It doesn't seem to be New York, right?"

"In Washington and Atlanta," Philo said.

"Yes, that's right there." Crystal nodded, rolled her eyes, and laughed again: "I remember you said when you called that Aaron went to those two places when he went out to perform with the magic troupe not long ago. "

She smiled and looked at Aaron: "This is a coincidence, don't you think so, Aaron?"

"..."

Aaron, the hired killer who committed the FBI's serial murders, couldn't help but glance at his wife's best friend.

To be honest, she wasn't ugly, but she felt like a noisy toad to him, especially when she spoke, her voice was shrill and thin, and she liked to make a fuss over trivial matters and stir up trouble.

Philo frowned and looked at him worriedly again; Aaron smiled reassuringly at her and didn't take these words to heart.

Many people think that murderers are violent maniacs. In fact, this is a prejudice - killing people does mean giving up rationality, but killers who make murder their profession must have enough rationality.

For example, he would never kill for personal preference. Either someone would pay for his life, or he would be silenced if he was seen doing so. Only a lunatic would take action over a minor conflict.

Crystal said a few more words, but when Aaron never showed the reaction she wanted to see, she curled her lips in boredom.

After the news is over, the entertainment program starts. Seeing that dinner was almost done, Crystal stood up and walked towards the bag that was thrown on the sofa before she had a chance to pick it up.

"Let's have a drink. Philo, where are your wine glasses?"

When the familiar words came into his ears, Aaron's expression changed instantly, and his whole person became extremely stiff.

In the next few seconds, he didn't hear what they were saying at all. It wasn't until Crystal, holding a mug filled with wine (there was no glass wine glass in his house), came to him regardless of Philo's obstruction that he realized - —

"Come on, Aaron, have a drink?"

He stretched out the wine glass in front of his eyes. The red wine was not as pungent as high-alcohol wine. The moment he smelled the smell of wine, his pupils suddenly contracted.

Aaron stood up suddenly, as if he was greatly threatened, and waved her hand away.

"No! No!! - Get away!!!"

He was shaking and even screaming.

The other two women were stunned by his reaction, and Philo looked at her usually gentle husband in disbelief.

They looked at each other, and as the wife, Philo spoke first: "...Aaron, are you okay?"

Aaron still stood blankly.

He watched the mug hit the floor, and the bright red wine spilled all over the floor. The strong smell made him dizzy, and his face turned pale.

"...It's okay." He said slowly, looking at his wife, his dull eyes gradually recovered: "I want to take a rest."

Philo looked at him with a worried look on his face, nodded and said: "Go and rest, I will just clean up here."

Aaron turned around, bypassed the area where the wine had been spilled, and ran up to the second floor as if running away.

He fled into the master bedroom, slammed the door, and leaned his back against the thick, solid door.

liquor……

His face was still pale, his body was trembling, and he looked forward with empty eyes.

He reached out his hand tremblingly, until he touched a large scar on the back of his neck and felt the uneven skin, he gradually calmed down. No wine.

He doesn't drink anymore.

He's outgrown that stuff.

I don't know how long it took for Aaron to recover. He slowly took out a breath. He almost didn't take a breath just now.

He found that his forehead was covered with cold sweat, so he walked to the table and took out a tissue to wipe it away.

Aaron threw the used dirty tissues into the wastebasket. At this moment, he felt a dull pain in the upper left side of his abdomen.

This is the fragile spleen area of ​​the human body. If a rupture occurs, timely treatment is required. If treatment is delayed for some reason, sequelae may be left.

Because of the pain and some fear rising in his heart, Aaron's body trembled slightly again, and he squatted down holding his abdomen.

This was an old wound he had suffered sixteen years ago.

——At the same time, it was also the mission that he regretted most when he was in that organization.

……

Since the host left early, the two of them hurriedly finished the rest of the dinner, and Philo tidied up the guest room for Crystal.

The guest room is not big, but it is very clean and decorated in a style that a little girl would like. There are a few dolls on the bed.

Philo put the toys in the cabinet, and Crystal noticed a group photo on the cabinet. The frame was clean and there were three smiling faces under the glass. A young girl holds a bear doll and smiles brightly at the camera.

But there was no atmosphere of children's life in the room, only the swollen belly of the hostess, foretelling that they were about to become parents.

As the night got darker, Crystal, who was staying there, tidied up, took a shower, and lay on the bed wearing the pajamas lent to her by the hostess.

She recalled everything that happened at the dinner table, feeling that her palms were still hurting, and muttered "What a weirdo...", then picked up her phone and clicked on the photo album.

It was not a complete accident that she came here today, because she drew a coupon for afternoon tea at a nearby restaurant online, for one person. That store was very expensive, and she had never been willing to part with it, so she came as soon as she got free entertainment.

While she was sitting by the window having afternoon tea, a man happened to pass by outside.

The man had long hair and healthy wheat-colored skin. He looked like a musician from a movie. He was gentle and had an unconcealed frivolity.

When Crystal looked towards him, he just turned his head and gave her a friendly smile.

She worked as a photographer in a modeling agency and was used to seeing all kinds of handsome guys, and she couldn't help but feel excited at that moment.

——Although he had a silly smile and would probably be defrauded of the last piece of steel he was wearing when he went to Las Vegas, his face was so handsome that she couldn't help but secretly take a photo.

Crystal flipped through the photo album on her phone. The further she turned, the more confused her expression became.

She discovered that the photo was missing.

In the only street view photo taken near the restaurant, there were only fallen leaves on the street and blurry passers-by in the distance, and there was no figure of the long-haired man at all.

...Did she delete it accidentally? Still didn’t get it?

She clenched her phone in confusion, wanting to scroll through it again, when she suddenly heard a knock on the door.

"Dong dong."

"Who?" she shouted, raising her voice.

There was no answer, but the other person knocked again a few times.

"Dong dong."

The master bedroom is on the second floor, and the guest room is on the first floor. The woman who came to stay overnight got out of bed, walked to the door step by step, and opened the door carefully.

It was dark outside.

She went out and looked, but there was no one in the corridor. With the light from the bedroom, she saw a wagging tail wagging in the distance.

That's the direction of the basement.

Crystal narrowed her eyes. She felt something was wrong. Philo's pet dog was a black Parkin spaniel, and the tail was gray.

She couldn't hold back her curiosity and walked over there.

The corridor was dark and eerie. There was no light upstairs. The other two people must have fallen asleep. She raised her phone, turned on the flashlight function, walked through the living room, walked down the stairs, and came to the basement door.

The door was ajar, and there was endless darkness behind it.

Crystal shivered for no reason, and she felt an inexplicable chill. Instinct told her to leave quickly, but the door in front of her slowly opened by itself.

"Clap."

Someone - or something - pressed the light switch, and dazzling white light instantly fell across the room, causing her to subconsciously close her eyes.

After her eyes adjusted, she saw clearly the layout of the room, including the wooden bed, freezer, sink, air dryer, and the things hanging above.

Crystal walked in. She wanted to see what those hanging white things were. She walked around the wooden bed, and when she passed the freezer, she caught sight of the things inside from the corner of her eye.

"!!!"

Huge panic hit her heart, but before she could scream, she heard a light voice not far away.

"you saw it?"

She turned around in surprise and saw Aaron Lucas standing at the door, looking at her expressionlessly.

……

Aaron cursed under his breath at the extra work as he left the house with a bag of stuff.

He was not worried that his wife would suddenly wake up and find that he was not there. The anesthetic drugs were enough for her to sleep until dawn.

There was no surveillance in this area. He carefully paid attention to whether there were any drunkards, drug addicts or delinquent groups wandering around. After walking down a street, he finally found the customer's car parked there.

He opened the car door, inserted the key he took, and tried to see if it could start with a fluke. Unexpectedly, he heard the sound of the engine soon.

"what the hell……"

Aaron was confused. He recalled what Crystal said when she complained about the broken car——

"There is something wrapped around my foot. It feels like a soft water pipe...I can't even press the brakes..."

Sure enough, it was all a matter of mystery. This car can obviously be used normally. (End of chapter)