CH 2

Jerry shuddered with fright, and Levi rose to his feet defensively.

A tall dark-skinned teenager came out, his sweater hood tightly wrapped around his head, his shoulders clenched, his eyes fierce, his open lips trembling.

He continued to yell “You liar” and stumbled downstairs, swooping straight at Jerry on the sofa.

As he rushed past Levi Karadze, Levi stopped him with one hand. He tried to push Levi away, but was thrown to the ground instead.

He roared, struggling to jump up, and was pressed against the carpet with his arms being held behind.

Jerry curled up at the far end of the sofa, stared at him, and clapped his hands, “It’s amazing, it’s amazing… Wait, don’t hurt him! I know this guy!”

The teenager on the carpet shouted angrily: “You fucking clapped!”

“He’s Sean,” Jerry explained to Levi. “I mentioned him to you, and he’s seen that door.”

Levi relaxed, stepped back, and apologized.

Sean got up slowly, rubbed his shoulders and elbows, and looked at the strange older man with a little fear. This man is very agile, and his strength is unbelievable.

Levi apologized again and handed over the business card, but Sean didn’t say anything.

Jerry, still huddled in the corner of the sofa, helped the two introduce each other in more detail: “This Mr. Karadzer is a staff member of the “Deep Quest” show, and their show wants to investigate the door. Sean, you like this show very much, right? You also said that you want to go to their show team for an internship.”

“Mr. Karadzer, this is Sean. We are both local children in Squirrel Town. He is older than me. I was brought to play with him since I was a child. When I was just in elementary school, he recommended me to watch “Deep Quest” , we have been friends for many years.”

Sean sat down angrily: “We are no longer friends! You have no right to say the word ‘friend’!”

“I still treat you as a friend!” Jerry said, “Look, I still don’t lock the windows of my room, so you can sneak up into my house like you were a kid… But it is still in the middle of the day, you can’t come and climb up my window, couldn’t you knock on the door and come inside…”

“Because I saw a strange car parked outside.”

“So you decided to eavesdrop?”

Sean looked at him coldly: “Well, I heard it all. You clearly saw the strange phenomenon that night, but you told the police that you were not sure, and that you were not sure because you were drunk…and the saddest thing is , you said that the wine was brought by me!”

“You’re older than me…”

“But I can’t buy wine yet! You selfish bastard!” Sean said, his eyes were a little red, “Do you know how I lived these days? Do you know how many times I’ve been questioned? ? Now they finally let me go. I have to go to a psychiatrist twice a week. My training was in vain, and I couldn’t play in yesterday’s game… Only you can prove that I didn’t lie, but you actually …”

“That’s the only thing I can do,” Jerry said aggressively. “You’re the topper of the school. Your grades doesn’t matter. You’re the captain of the basketball team. No matter what you say, people will understand and believe you…even if you’re wrong. They will also find a way to help you out of the predicament… I am different, if I talk nonsense, what will they think of me? First of all, my parents won’t spare me.

Maybe they will send me to a mental hospital ! Like Laird…”

Hearing this, Levi finally couldn’t help but interrupt: “Wait, what did you say? Laird was sent to a mental hospital? Didn’t you just say he was sent to grandma’s house?”

Jerry slumped his shoulders: “It’s a mental hospital…he just broke down, or my dad wouldn’t just let him go. He lived there…by the age of fifteen? Then he was discharged, Went to his grandmother’s house. What, does it matter?”

Levi touched his chin and nodded: “It’s very important… He has seen that door too, and he also showed great fear, right? You said just now that he screamed as soon as he saw the door, like looking at the door. Something terrifying happened.”

“Yes. That’s what the nanny said.”

Levi looked at the two children: “You have all seen strange doors, but how did you not get scared? Some of you directly went inside, and those who didn’t go in waited outside. Waiting until noon the next day… No one wanted to run for their lives on the spot, and no one went insane. As for the two of you, one is in the mood to contact our program team, and the other takes the initiative to return to the scene of the crime and is ready to beat people… You two Very motivated, healthy, not insane at all. You guys reacted completely differently than your brother.”

Jerry said: “I was actually quite scared, really, just not that much…I think it must be because Laird was so young. I was sixteen and Sean was eighteen. , and the nanny, she was in her 60s at the time, and she was not scared.”

Sometimes, the younger the child, the harder it is to detect danger. Laird’s reaction to the “door” was extremely violent, and this should not be because of his young age.

Either he saw something through the “crack in the door” that others couldn’t see; or he had seen such a door more than once and already knew its horror.

The air was silent for a few seconds. Sean couldn’t help but ask, “Uh…wait a minute, who’s Laird? Who went insane?”

No one answered him for the time being. After a while, Levi said, “I need to see Laird, and the babysitter.”

Jerry asked, “Why? Is it necessary?”

“It’s necessary. Can you find the nanny or Laird’s contact details?”

“But… the crime scene is my house…”

Jerry’s eyes drifted to Levi’s hand: the assistant producer picked up the recorder on the table, put it in the pocket of the camera vest, and began to look at the backpack…

Levi felt a reluctant look in his eyes, and he suddenly understood the concerns of this little liar.

So he sighed and said, “Our show is about digging out every detail and letting them come together into a logically compact and complete thread. We don’t like monotonous scenes and overly straightforward cases. Generally speaking, we need a The central clue character that runs through the entire topic selection – this central character is you, Jerry Cates. In addition to you, we also need to contact various people related to the event, each with their own story, but ultimately all clues will point to your home…”

Jerry jumped up from the sofa immediately: “I see! I know the pattern! Wait, I’ll go look for my dad’s contact book. I don’t have Laird’s number on my phone…”

Just as Sean began speaking, the doorbell rang in the room. Once again he and his question was ignored.

Jerry just got up, just in time to open the door.

“You? How could…” After opening the door, he was stunned for a moment, then looked back at Sean and Levi, “Uh, there are people you are curious about…”

“What?” Levi stood up.

“Don’t you want to see Laird,” Jerry paused with a complicated look, “but…you must not be mentally prepared…and neither am I…”

Jerry’s attitude was odd. It seems that the half-brother he talks about not only had an unfortunate childhood, but also has some unspeakable problems now.

When Jerry finished speaking, the people outside just put away their umbrellas.

The legendary Laird smiled at his half-brother and stepped in the door humming a song.

The Cates family is blond and blue-eyed, as is Laird Cates, whose hair is lighter than Jerry’s, giving it a subtle metallic hue even in rainy weather.

He pulled all of his hair back to form an overly docile, overly formal hairstyle, paired with chain gold glasses and a black lacquer slim robe, creating a nervous and suspicious aura.

Yes, he was wearing a black robe…the kind of clothes that priests wear. However, instead of wearing a white collar, he wore a dark gray vintage velvet scarf. A thin chain stretched out from under the scarf. The chain hung down to his waist, and a small white crystal pendulum hung at the end.

He held a long-handled umbrella (with a silver skull handle) in one hand and a medium-sized metal lockbox (the kind used by bad guys in movies) in the other, and walked into the living room humming a song.

The moment he saw the guests, he stopped humming, and the smile on his face suddenly solidified.

He dropped the thing in his hand in a very exaggerated way, and tilted his head naively: “I’m not dreaming, am I? Levi Karadzer?”

Levi also stared at him in shock: “How could… how could it be you? How could you be ‘Laird’?”