What happened to Isaac?

Now set the time back to [-] o'clock in the afternoon today, the location is outside the infirmary door.

"I'll wait outside," Andy said, "but if you don't come out for too long, I might knock on the door."

Neither Louis nor Gavin expressed any objection to this.

The wooden chair creaked.

Gavin sat across from Louis, and as usual, he talked about symptoms such as headache and brain fever.Then he whispered, "You've got to find a way to escape, Louie."

"Why?" Louis said, "I don't care if you don't believe it, anyway, this matter has nothing to do with me. They want to investigate, even if they do."

"Fool! How could I not believe you? But you don't have an alibi—"

"Are you worried about me?" Louie said, raising his voice. "You basically don't need to change your medicine, Gavin." Then he lowered his voice again: "You don't even dare to look at me when they suspect me."

"The previous medicine had side effects of drowsiness. It would be great if I could switch to another one," Gavin said. "I was—indeed, I'm sorry. I have nothing to argue with. I'm too cowardly, and you should blame me."

"Medicine? Oh, this is easy to solve. Let me help you find an alternative," Louis said. "I don't mean to blame you, but if... if you are accused of murder, I will definitely stand by you unconditionally." This side. The relationship between people is always unequal, isn't it? Of course I understand, but sometimes I still feel it's unfair. Dean Robert takes care of you, you get close to him, but what about me? I didn't neglect anything Oh, Brother Gavin, please wait a moment! I will write you a prescription, and take the medicine according to this list during this time, so don’t lose it.”

Louis pushed away the chair and stood up, Gavin looked up at him, then turned his head away: "Louis, I have always respected and loved you as a big brother."

Louis paused his hand taking the pills with a small spoon, turned his head to look at Gavin's confused lamb-like expression, and sighed.

"Sometimes I think you are really smart, even a little cunning. But even so, I still can't hate you. After all these years, have I been doing everything to be your father and brother? Brother Gavin, take advantage of it , you can go back to rest," Louis scolded in a low voice, "...what are you doing in a daze, let's go! You annoy me more than anything else."

"I'm also in a difficult situation."

"You can't tell right from wrong," Louie said in a low voice. "I told you what Robert did—"

"He is my adoptive father after all!" Gavin growled in a low voice, and after a while he said softly, "...I'm sorry, I lost my composure."

"I owe you an apology, too," Louis said, "You go."

"Wait." Gavin hesitated for a moment, and grabbed Louis' wrist—the latter blushed suddenly, looking helpless, and the previous anger was gone.

"But I'm really worried about you, Louie," Gavin said. "What did the detective ask you? Anyway, listen to me..."

Fifteen minutes later, Andy saw Louis and Gavin come out one after the other, and their expressions were normal.

**

dong dong.

Andy opened the door, and Gavin and another young monk stood outside. "What's the matter?" he asked.

"I didn't understand Louie's prescription," Gavin said.The other monk just came with him.So Andy opened the door and let the two of them in. When Louis saw Gavin, he said politely, "Have some tea!"

Gavin went to pick up the kettle and found that there was no water in the two kettles.Seeing this, the young monk took the initiative to go downstairs to fetch water.

Gavin asked, "Where's the tea?" Louis told him it was in the closet, yes, the opened tea can; then, Louis pointed to the window to divert the eyes of the other two. Louis stuffed the paper bag for him, shook the powder into the teapot, and made a pot of tea as if nothing had happened.

The young monk skipped tea and ordered some cold water; Louis was giving Gavin a prescription, and only Andy finished his tea.It took only a short time to decipher a few lines, and after a while, Gavin and the monk left the room.

Andy looked at the rest of the tea on the table, while Louie sat tense, motionless.He said strangely: "Drink?" These were the last words he said to Louis.

Andy fell unconscious on the chair, Louis pushed the chair and stood up, leaned up cautiously and hesitantly to have a look—the poor police officer was completely unconscious.

So he opened the window as Gavin said, and hid in the closet.Soon, outside the corridor separated by a wall, there were hurried footsteps from far to near. First, there was an urgent knock on the door, but Louis did not respond; then, someone broke into the door.

"My God, isn't this the police officer? Where's Louis?" It was the young monk who was present just now who spoke.

"He's not in the house?" asked the Abbot.

"Louis was still there when we first came down. He—oh, guys, look at this window! Could it be..." said Gavin.He hurried into the room and looked around, nodding as he passed the closet to Louie, who was looking out through the slit.

Afterwards, the three of them discussed loudly at the door, and finally decided to let the young and strong monk rush to inform the detective and the other police officer.Louis heard the sound of doors opening to the left and right. It might be that the monk who lived next to him poked his head out when he heard the movement, and was scolded by the dean and retreated into the room again.

The noise in the corridor subsided.

Gavin coughed heavily, and Louis came out of the closet.Looking at the worried and eager expressions of Gavin and the dean outside the door, he felt a little moved - after all, in a foreign land like this, and unfortunately being the target of public criticism, it is very rare for two people to do their best to help you out of danger.

"When I get there, I will always wait for your letter..."

Louis' words were interrupted before he finished speaking, and the dean hurriedly pushed him into Douglas' room next door—there was still a corpse smell in the room, which smelled very ominous, and Louis' face turned pale because of this.The dean said: "There is not much time. You have to go out successfully before thinking about it. You should hide in the closet and don't come out anyway."

Louis opened the closet, his back turned to the dean and Gavin.Just as he was about to step into the small closet, Gavin suddenly broke down and screamed.He turned his head, only to see the dean suddenly raised his hand, and the afterimage that fell—

Louis fell to the ground, just like the scene five years ago, blood slowly overflowing from the back of his head.

……

Time back to five quarters in the afternoon.

"You think an open window would lead us straight to the idea that Louis had left the Abbey; and even a routine inspection in the Abbey would avoid Douglas' room, either out of respect or taboo, after all the poor man died here the night before. .”

Xavier said in front of the two police officers and Robert Dean himself: "In fact, you used this reason to convince Louis to believe you. You are in a hurry because you are worried that Louis will be able to prove his innocence after the confrontation, and then, Maybe someone will find out soon, and you can't produce an alibi, Dean Robert."

Dean Robert trembled his white lips, but did not speak.

"So you want Louie to leave," Xavier said. "As long as he escapes, the police will automatically think that he is absconding and focus on catching him. I don't know exactly what you gave him. Promise to coax him, but you don't really mean to help him escape, Robert. You want him to disappear forever."

Several outsiders present showed expressions of disbelief, but Robert himself showed a kind of numb calm at this time.As for the remaining half of the sentence that broke his calm mask, Xavier said in Robert's ear: "You don't trust Louis, and you don't fully understand him. Maybe you don't want to admit this reality? His love for Gavin Extraordinary. Poor guy, as long as Gavin tells him, he might even dare to try to reach the stars."

Robert said nothing.

"After Louie died, you dragged the body under the bed, put down the sheet to cover it, and left Friar Douglas' room before we arrived," Xavier said. "This is my conclusion. Do you have any questions? Or Dean Robert?" , what do you have to refute?"

"Gavin was there, what's his role here?" Dean asked. "Gavin doesn't know anything," said the Dean. "He's an honest kid. He's petrified. It's just me."

Dean looked distrustful.Indeed, it is hard to imagine that a normal person would stand still and watch a murderer lure people to another room to commit murder, but in the end he would say nothing.Dean cast his eyes on Xavier, who avoided the gaze, but made no rebuttal.

After that, the two police officers found the blood-stained gloves, hammer and Louis' body under the bed in Douglas' room; Louis's blood on the gloves, the crime tools matching the injuries, and the time of death can prove the suspicion of Dean Robert .However, it seems that no professional appraisal is needed. When he saw the body of Louis covered in white cloth, Robert had already chosen to bow his head and plead guilty.

The case is basically over here: Dean Robert murdered many monks within five years because of the abuse of addictive drugs that affected his mind, including Brother Douglas who died of anaphylactic shock the night before and Father Louis who was framed.

What awaits Robert is bound to be hanged. Before that, there will be someone to watch him all the time.Spying on Robert was not a strenuous task.He didn't grow hysterical, or argue for himself, like a crumbling wall that, after losing its dignity, can no longer hide anything.Behind the wall is a dead wasteland, where there is no shadow of the soul, only the gray horses of death wandering around.

In order to get the whereabouts of detective Li Qiming, Xavier had to sit down and listen to him talking about many things without a clue.

Robert is obviously very worried, but not for himself: "The doctor said that Gavin may not live to be 40 years old."

Xavier said nothing.

"Gavin is meek by nature, and he can't decide anything by himself. Even though he was afraid of me, who was full of ugliness after taking the medicine, he never thought of rebelling. It is said that he was always the one who got angry everywhere when he was a child. Isn't it ridiculous?" Robert said with a wry smile, "Although he is useless, he is not a bad boy. In this world, who doesn't want to live."

The wind was blowing outside the window, and Xavier went to the window to see, the rustling leaves covered the old man's choked sigh.At this time, there is no need to speak too much. Of course, there is really nothing to say.

……

Two hours later, Robert pleaded guilty again, admitting that he also murdered Li Qiming, an Asian private detective who came to the monastery to investigate.

**

Xavier immediately set off to find Li Qiming's body. Before leaving, he said, "I would like to give you some time to be alone. You won't commit suicide, will you?"

The dean smiled wryly and shook his head: "My sin is already serious enough."

According to Robert's confession, Xavier, Isaac and the two police officers went down to the cellar under the patio.Pulling away the heavy wooden boards, a stench came to the face. Xavier asked the accompanying priest, has no one ever smelled this smell?The priest shook his head and recalled that shortly after the detective left, according to the dean's instructions, all the wines that were brewed later were stored in the wine cellar, and no one had gone down to the cellar for a long time.

As he spoke, he made a sign of the cross on his chest. Obviously, he also smelled the terrible smell, and was vaguely aware of what it represented.

There are only a few wooden barrels in the cellar, some of which are pickles, and only one barrel is heavy and seems to have liquid in it. The aroma of semi-fermented wine can't cover up the damp corpse smell that seeps into the cracks in the planks. This whole barrel Reflecting a disturbing greasy sheen in the light of the kerosene lamp.

After prying open the wine barrel, something mixed with wine rolled out of the barrel. The two police officers exclaimed in unison—the kerosene lamp saw a highly decomposed corpse!Although the skeleton was still intact, most of the tissues were almost liquefied. The skeleton folded unnaturally, curled up like a child squatting in the corner of a wardrobe, and inevitably fell apart into many pieces during the process of being moved.Although the corpse was decomposed beyond recognition, the skeleton of the lame leg with congenital problems was enough to prove the identity of the deceased...

Without warning, police officer Andy, who had never met Detective Lee, suddenly burst into tears. As for Dean, he let out a painful groan, and crawled out of the cellar until Xavier and the others walked up to the patio and helped Throwing against the wall, I'm afraid I won't be able to straighten up for a while.

……

The next thing will be handled by the police. Xavier greeted in advance and prepared to leave with Isaac.

Dean Robert has been brought under control, and after the last interview, Xavier never saw him again.

Before leaving, Xavier went to see Gavin. The young man was copying scriptures in his room. He was shocked when he heard the door open, and then continued to write until Xavier stood behind him, gently Gripping his wrist lightly—he nearly dropped the pen, pulled his hand back hard, and looked up at Xavier.

Xavier forced a smile: "The sun is about to set, let's write tomorrow."

Gavin didn't speak.

"Did they lead you to see Robert? Sorry, but this may be the last time we see him."

Gavin shook his head.

"Don't be nervous, young man," Xavier said. "The police may come to you later, but you will not be taken away as an accessory, just for routine questioning."

"Then, what will happen to the dean...?" Gavin said awkwardly after a long time, "He is very old, sir, he is 70 years old this year."

"Oh, that freaked me out. I thought you were going to ask me to let you take the blame for him."

"..."

"It was my faux pas, please don't take it to heart," Xavier said. "As for Robert, he will always get what he deserves. Well, Gavin, don't look afraid of me. After all, there are not many people here. Of the few strangers, I am the one who sympathizes with you. Maybe you feel the same way? Life is like a terrible accident; tremors are faintly felt in a spider's web, but you don't know from which direction. You spend a lot of time Writing, thinking, confessing...but some things are not enough in a lifetime, what am I talking about. But do you understand what I mean?"

"...I think so, sir." Gavin lowered his eyebrows.

At this time, the door suddenly slid open by itself, and the two turned their heads at the same time, but there was no one in the corridor, only the white curtains of the window were floating like waves, covering the dean's beloved vase, the broken one because of him, It was repaired by Louis with clumsy craftsmanship, a vase full of cracked lines.Gavin showed some panic and melancholy, followed by a long silence, which lasted until Xavier left.

"Gavin," said Xavier before leaving, "Father Louis often told me in private that you are a kind and good boy."