The daily life of American drama detective

Chapter 217 Holding a knife at Monica, screaming Jane Banner
New Jersey.

Methuen Orphanage for Women.

A math class test was in progress. The female math teacher came down from the podium. She had no experience in the future advanced middle school and college entrance examination. She started to walk around to check the students' answers, and walked to a girl with black hair and double ponytails in the first row. At that time, the girl with black hair and twin ponytails raised her head and smiled sweetly at her, then lowered her head and continued to answer the question.

The female math teacher couldn't help showing an aunt's smile at the corner of her mouth, and then looked at the black-haired twin-tailed girl's neat curly face and correct answers, and sighed in her heart: "Esther, it's a pity."

The black-haired girl with two ponytails, Esther, has always been her best student before. She is good at studying, can play the piano, and is also very good at drawing. She is polite and good at communication, and has a maturity far beyond her appearance.

Such an excellent Esther, not long after he came to Methuen, was spotted by a couple and adopted without any accident, but who would have thought that such a thing would happen to him just after leaving.

Although this was an accident and it had nothing to do with Esther, the family that wanted to adopt her in the future would not think so.

Because this is not the first time.

Looking at Esther's files, she was adopted by an American couple from abroad, and then when she was out, the couple was burned to death at home, which made Esther live in an orphanage again.

So pitiful.

Although the orphanage will make a little modification to the families who come to adopt children, and teach the children to show distressed fake smiles to the possible future parents to increase the chances of successful adoption, but this kind of children grow up to 'parents' 'How can a friendly smile compare to the natural smile that is inherited from DNA after coming out of the mother's womb for survival?

Moreover, retouching is not random editing. The orphanage cannot delete, revise and conceal such important resume information.

Esther, who had two accidents, is already a catastrophe in the eyes of some people. Even if there are couples who believe in science and not superstition and don’t care about it, they may have to face better options and give up the constant accidents. Esther.

Thinking of this, the female math teacher couldn't help but look away from the black-haired pair of ponytails, and looked towards the last row of the classroom. She saw that the little blond girl Beth Harmon was not buried in answering the questions, but looked up indifferently. Looking at her, Beth Harmon raised her hand after their eyes met.

This is not the first time.

The female math teacher came over, picked up the test paper that had just been handed out on the table, glanced at it, and sure enough, everything was correct, and said in a low voice as always: "Go and take the blackboard eraser to the basement to clean it."

Beth Harmon got up, walked to the blackboard, skillfully picked up the blackboard eraser covered with chalk dust and walked out.

The female math teacher stood in the last row, watching Beth Harmon leave the classroom, while the black-haired twintails who had been immersed in answering papers raised their heads and watched Beth Harmon's back disappear with her.

This is another point that the female math teacher sighed for Esther. Before Beth Harmon came over, Esther was indeed the best child in the Methuen Orphanage.

But after Beth Harmon came over, even though she didn't fight for anything, she was always quiet, and always looked at everything indifferently with her big eyes open, but her genius IQ inherited from her mother with a doctorate in mathematics, was nothing. Can't hide it.

In terms of learning, she is self-taught without a teacher, which makes her, a math teacher, often feel a lot of pressure. She prepares lessons more diligently than before, and is afraid of being underestimated by a 9-year-old child.

In terms of specialties and hobbies, I fell in love with chess because I went to the basement to wash the blackboard eraser and saw the old administrator playing chess alone. In just a few weeks, I attracted the chess club instructor from Bergen County High School to come and talk with the school. Chang Shang invited her to go to high school 1V12. She won a big victory and met the world champion grand master and the famous detective Chuck.

This experience made her, an ordinary math teacher, envious, let alone attractive to those couples who came to adopt her.

Also at the age of 9, Esther looks no worse than Beth Harmon at all, but the real gap is still there. If she really needs to explain, one is precocious and excellent, while the other is simply excellent in IQ.

outside the classroom.

Beth Harmon walked down the corridor with the blackboard eraser, turned the corner, came to a staircase, went down, pushed open a door, walked into the basement, came to the sink, and slapped the blackboard eraser vigorously After a while, she began to wash with water. She turned her head and looked inside. A chess set was there as usual, but the familiar old administrator was not sitting there. She frowned and walked over to look at the chessboard. Take a step up and down in the endgame, then go to the corner and start looking through the various chess books and the latest chess magazines.

The Methuen Women's Orphanage implements closed management. There are no mobile phones or TVs. Except for the regular weekly film broadcasts, there is little information exchange with the outside world.

For the taciturn Beth Harmon, that's not out of the question, and she still has chess.

Of course, reading magazines that record major chess news events from the old administrator is also one of her few pleasures.

Then she saw that the grandmaster Patrick Kloster had won the world championship title in the Rejing World Championship Challenge, and calmly began to read the magazine's replay of the final game.

A balding old man came in with a toolbox and a ladder, looked at Beth, and said nothing.

"His confidence is a little lacking."

After a long time, Beth looked up at the bald old man: "Has anything happened recently?"

The bald old man glanced at Beth in surprise, and slowly said: "I heard that Patrick Kloster lost to Detective Chuck in a game held on Long Island."

Speaking of this, the taciturn man couldn't help but add a sentence: "The loss was complete, and his mentality should have been severely hit. You are right, he is not the opponent of Detective Chuck."

"I told you already."

Beth Harmon was no surprise.

At the beginning, the two only played chess and there was almost no redundant dialogue, but as Beth showed super high chess talent and won honor under the old man's matchmaking, Beth liked to tell the old man all her feelings when she came back.

Then she talked about her own judgment: the world champion grand master is completely incomparable with the top mathematician Chuck Wolf.

However, the old administrator, whose only hobby is chess, didn't believe it. He gave her popular science about what it means to be a world champion, but it still didn't change her opinion until she learned about the battle at Channing Manor from a friend in the chess club. Only then did he know she was right.

"It's a pity he's not married..."

"why?"

Facing the old administrator's sudden sigh, 9-year-old Beth Harmon looked over in confusion.

"It's nothing."

The old administrator did not explain the rule that people who are not married cannot adopt a child, shook his head, and then glanced at her: "You should go back, someone will come over today, you should prepare well."

"There's nothing to prepare for."

Beth naturally knew what the old administrator meant by the preparation, and said indifferently: "My life is very good now."

Every once in a while, couples who want to adopt children will come over. This day is almost like a festival in the orphanage. Everyone puts on their most beautiful clothes, dresses up beautifully, shows the neatest standard smile, and stares eagerly. The couple who walked in wanted to let them adopt themselves.

"You don't know what you're talking about."

The old administrator shook his head: "After a long time, you will know, now, get out of here!"

Speaking of this, he suddenly looked towards the stairs, vaguely feeling that someone was there, but he didn't see anyone.

Seeing that he was determined, Beth Harmon could only leave with the magazine.

The exams are over long ago, and there are no other classes scheduled for today. Girls, big and small, are laughing and playing, wantonly blooming with youthful vitality that is not usually available.

Ok.

Today is the rare extravagance that the Methuen Orphanage allows, mostly on display to prospective adopters and donors who are about to visit.

A car drives in.

The head of the orphanage personally stood at the door to receive them. After a couple got off the bus, they immediately greeted them with a smile: "Mr. Kloster, Mrs. Kloster, welcome to Methuen!"

That's right!

It was Linda and his wife who came.

Linda took the initiative to go forward and take charge of greetings.

On the other hand, Patrick Kloster stood with his hands behind his hands in a reserved manner, looking at the Methuen building, his eyes suddenly looked at the attic on the second floor, a petite shadow flashed away, and the corner of Patrick's mouth could not help revealing a trace of Playful smile.

Under the guidance of the dean, the Klosters began to visit the Methuen Orphanage. Linda remembered her husband's reminder and asked: "Dean, I heard that there is a child named Beth Harmon, she Why aren't you here?"

"Oh, Beth, she's in her room."

The dean glanced at the world champion, suddenly realized, and explained with a smile: "She likes to study chess records, I think she will be very happy to see Mr. Kloster again."

"I hope so."

Patrick Kloster said with a pointed smile: "If possible, I hope to personally train the next generation of American chess, who will truly have the power to rule the world."

"It's everyone's hope."

The dean smiled flatteringly, and then led the two of them upstairs to Beth's dormitory, where they saw Beth sitting there reading a chess magazine.

"Beth, come to see Mr. and Mrs. Closter."

The dean greeted.

Under the dean's gaze, Beth could only get up and walk over, greeted numbly, and then looked at Patrick Kloster strangely.

"meet again."

Patrick Kloster looked at Beth, and then saw the chess magazine in her hand, and said with a smile: "You are watching my chess game in the final, do you understand?"

"Still studying."

Beth looked at him. "But I know you had a hard time winning because you got crushed by Chuck Wolfe?"

"..."

Patrick Kloster's smile faltered.

"Beth!"

The dean was keenly aware of the unfriendly atmosphere and mood, and looked at Beth severely: "What about your manners?"

"Feel sorry."

People have to bow their heads under the eaves, as smart as Beth, she naturally understands this truth, so Beth adjusted her expression to meet the stern gaze, showing a flattering smile trained on the industrialized assembly line standards of American orphanages and looked at Patrick. Kloster: "Mr. Kloster, why did you take 44 moves to checkmate your opponent? Is it because of Chuck Wolfe?"

"..."

Everyone looked at the standard of smile, but there was not much change in the questioning. Beth, who was still harsh, only felt that this standard smile was very harsh.

"You are sharp!"

Just when the dean was having a headache and wanted to smooth things over, Patrick Kloster laughed: "It's very similar to me."

With that said, he turned and left.

"Mr. Kloster!"

The dean gave Beth a hard look, and quickly chased after her.

Patrick Kloster is not only a potential adopter, but also a potential large-scale donor. After the adoption is successful, it will be a business card for their orphanage in the future. All kinds of factors are superimposed, and the director cannot be ignored. .

At this moment, a beautiful piano sounded, attracting everyone's attention.

Linda, who had been making soy sauce all the time, suddenly showed a look of attentive listening.

Patrick Kloster put his hand to his mouth to signal the dean to stop talking, and the three of them listened to the piano music quietly for a while.

"Who talked about the piano music?"

Patrick Kloster first asked the dean, and then looked at Linda: "Honey, this reminds me of you playing the piano."

"This should be Esther playing the piano."

There was a strange flash in the dean's eyes, he explained something, and quickly changed the subject: "Mrs. Kloster, do you also like to play the piano?"

"Just amateur bouncing."

Linda smiled shyly.

"Oh, you're so insecure."

Patrick Kloster said: "My wife's piano attainments are very profound. If it weren't for the psychological barrier to playing on stage in public, she might have become a famous pianist."

"I don't doubt that at all."

The dean echoed with a smile: "Mr. Kloster, you are so good. Since you choose Mrs. Kloster as your partner, naturally Mrs. Kloster is equally good."

"Let's go take a look."

Patrick Kloster suggested to go first in the direction where the piano sounded again.

Linda and the dean followed, walked into the hall, and saw next to the piano, a girl with black hair and twin ponytails, with a ribbon around her neck, sitting in front of the piano, playing ecstasy.

"It plays really well."

Linda was amazed, moved in her heart, and took the initiative to talk to Esther. After leaving, she looked at her husband expectantly: "Patrick, can we adopt her?"

"Dean, what do you mean?"

Patrick Kloster did not answer, but looked at the dean.

"This one……"

The dean is a little hesitant. As the dean of the church orphanage, she is somewhat superstitious and can feel that Esther is different, and vaguely feels that there is something wrong with Esther. In her heart, she does not recommend the orphanage. It's very important that the Klosters adopted Esther, but it's hard to say this.

"We decided to adopt her."

When Patrick Kloster saw it, he became more and more convinced of his guess, so he made a decision directly.

"That's great!"

Linda was overjoyed.

Compared to Beth Harmon, whom she and her husband both liked chess and spoke frankly, and was designated by her husband to adopt, if she had to adopt one, she would rather choose Esther who shared her hobbies.

"Dean, can we adopt her and Beth Harmon at the same time?"

Patrick Kloster looked at his happy wife and said with a meaningful smile.

"Ah this."

The dean was taken aback for a moment, but after thinking about it, he didn't refuse.

Under normal circumstances, a couple can only adopt one at a time, but let’s not talk about Esther’s special situation. If she is not adopted this time, she may not have a chance. Let’s say that Patrick Kloster has money and status. An exception can be made in accordance with the American tradition.

Beth Harmon was stunned when she heard the news, and the dean didn't bother to explain. The children in the orphanage have always been eager to be rejected by others, and there has never been a child who refused to adopt a family.

Mountainside Villa.

After the [-]% discount for the old friends, they will go to their own houses and sleep in their own sleeps.

Sleeping in the middle of the night, Jane, who was short of water, woke up abruptly from thirst, got up in a daze, staggered out of the bedroom, came to the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, took out a bottle of ice water from inside, and opened it with her eyes closed. After taking a sip into his mouth, he opened his eyes in shock. After closing the refrigerator, he was startled and almost didn't cry out. Holding his heaving chest, he stood behind the refrigerator door facing the sudden appearance. Monica said angrily: "Monica, what are you doing, you scared me to death!"

Monica ignored her, walked to the kitchen, took out a kitchen knife and started washing and cutting.

"Still cooking at this time? Are you hungry? I just happen to be a little hungry too, so make some for me too."

Jane didn't care about it either. Monica was in a strange state. She had seen it too much and subconsciously understood it. While talking, she hydrated frantically, slumped on the sofa, picked up the remote control, and turned on the TV. , flipped through it casually, and stopped on a channel that broadcast anecdotes.

"Bianca, a female student at the University of Chicago, shot and killed her best friend Heather after playing with her boyfriend Heather, and the police suspected it was caused by jealousy..."

puff!
Jane, who was drinking water, sprayed it out, stared at the TV with wide eyes, and watched it seriously. After watching the gossip, she suddenly felt a little cold behind her back, and slowly turned her head to look, and saw Monica's expressionless face. Standing behind her with a knife in his face.

"what!!!"

Jane couldn't bear it anymore, and screamed.

Inside the master bedroom.

Chuck didn't sleep either, and was answering a phone call: "Dr. Wolf, or should I call you Detective Chuck?"

"What is it, Kalinda?"

Chuck ignored the ridicule on the other side and went straight to the point.

"Okay, we need your help."

Kailinda, an investigator at the Lockhart & Gardner law firm in Chicago, didn't go around in circles anymore, and explained the reason: "Have you heard the news about a female college student at the University of Chicago who shot and killed her best friend?"

"Chuck!!!"

Just when Kailinda introduced the case, the frightened Jane screamed and rushed in from the living room, followed by the expressionless Monica holding a knife.

"Are you alright there?"

The movement here made Kailinda stop and gossip.

"fine."

Chuck took a look and said calmly, "Go on."

"Heather's mother found our law firm and wanted to hire us as her daughter's defense lawyer. We need to know whether Heather is innocent..."

On the other end of the phone, Kailinda continued to introduce the case while filling her mind with Chuck's gossip. She looked up and saw her female boss reaching out to signal, so she added a sentence and handed the phone to the female boss: "Diane wants to talk to you .”

(End of this chapter)