The World of American Drama: From the Los Angeles Patrol

Chapter 1095 Capgras Delusion

"What you just did is really impressive. Is that hypnosis, Miss Jeanre?"

After questioning Mrs. Milgram, everyone gathered in the living room to discuss the case. It was obvious that Gibbs was not the type who was good at complimenting people, which made his words seem clumsy and sincere.

The decoration in the living room is in a very old-school American style. The furniture is basically made of solid wood. The brown wall panels and decorative paintings inlaid with gold edges usually give people a solemn and elegant feeling, which is in line with the identity of an old general, but at this time it makes people feel depressed.

"That's just a simple psychological suggestion." Jiejie calmly took a step back and hid herself behind Jack and the sofa.

She was experienced in dealing with enthusiastic suitors, but Gibbs was clearly not after her beauty, he was after her.

"Jiejie, like Jack, is a psychologist from the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit." Jubal didn't quite understand what was going on and helped explain it, which made Gibbs' eyes brighter.

Is NCIS so short of people? I have the impression that this boss is very picky when it comes to choosing people. Why does he want to poach people from the FBI right away? Jack feels a little overwhelmed.

At this time, Hannah also returned to the living room. She had just sent Mrs. Milgram to the bedroom to rest, and asked two female police officers to guard outside the door.

"The Milgrams' cars are all there. Luke must have taken the general to his own car. Alice is comparing the surveillance footage from the surrounding intersections with the data from the stolen vehicle that day, hoping to find something."

Luke abandoned his car at his parents' house and consciously avoided the police's sight, so the car he drove to the villa was most likely stolen, and there was no problem with Alice's direction of investigation.

Of course, this kind of screening work cannot be done by one person. Behind her, there are dozens of analysts working overtime all night in the operations center in New York.

"In fact, in addition to the 'Drado Falls' operation, I am more concerned about the word 'Gaslighting' that Luke mentioned to the general in Mrs. Milgram's narration just now."

Jack turned his eyes away from a picture of a battleship on the wall and analyzed the case.

The word "Gaslighting" is a slang term referring to the "gaslight effect". It originated from a play "Gaslight" in the 30s and was later adapted into a movie "Gaslight".

The play and film tell the story of how a man adjusts the brightness of the gas lamp and uses similar psychological suggestion techniques to make his wife confused and self-doubting, thereby controlling her mind.

Compared to the well-known PUA, the "gaslight effect" is more covert and less detectable, but the effect is similar. It can gradually deprive the manipulated person of their self-confidence and autonomy, making them cognitively and emotionally dependent on the manipulator.

When one person says to another, you are trying to "gaslight" me, what it means is that you are trying to manipulate my thoughts.

"He accuses the general of replacing his parents and trying to manipulate his mind, and it sounds like he has some kind of paranoia."

Jubal said, looking towards Gibbs, "We really need the files on Operation Drado Falls."

The latter nodded seriously, "When we return to the NCIS office, the information will appear on the table in your conference room."

"I feel like I've heard of this symptom somewhere." Jack said, taking out his cell phone and calling a humanoid encyclopedia.

The phone rang for a long time before it was connected. In addition to Red's complaints, there was also the questioning voice of his celebrity girlfriend Leila Yaqi.

Because Jack turned on the speakerphone, the noise was heard by everyone. Hannah teased this guy directly, "Wow, Red, I thought even if you lived with Leila, you would sleep in separate rooms." There was a shrill noise from the other end of the phone, obviously Red had accidentally dropped the phone on the ground.

"We're not living together. Leila is just here for the weekend. Come on, it's not even 4 a.m. yet. What's going on?" After picking up the phone, Red chose to change the subject.

"We're having a little trouble."

Getting down to business, Jack briefly and clearly described Luke Dolan's symptoms.

"I know that trauma can cause symptoms such as amnesia and even schizophrenia, but it is clear that Luke's paranoia has not affected his daily behavior. He was even able to break through the security system and enter the general's villa and hijack it, which shows that his logical thinking is normal."

Reid was silent for a long time before he suddenly said, "I think he might have Capgras delusion."

Everyone on this side of the phone looked at each other in confusion. This word was very unfamiliar to everyone present.

"Please explain, Dr. Reid," Clay asked loudly.

Red's voice became slightly high-pitched, which was the usual tone used by the Humanoid Encyclopedia when outputting information.

"Capgras delusion, also known as impostor syndrome, is an extremely rare mental illness that appears almost exclusively in literary and artistic works, in which sufferers are convinced that their friends and loved ones have been replaced by imposters."

"Like the movie 'Out of this World'?" Gibbs interjected.

"Out of this World" is a classic movie from the 50s and is regarded as the forerunner of the classic TV series "The X-Files".

Reid continued, "Yes, but this symptom usually only involves one sense, most typically vision, and basically the neural connection between the visual cortex and the part of the brain responsible for controlling emotions is severed.

So when the patient looks at the people around him, he is unable to elicit a corresponding emotional response, which causes him to view these people as imposters.

Interestingly, because the auditory connection was still intact, the symptoms did not occur when he heard rather than saw the familiar person.”

"So it's very likely that Luke's years of special operations career caused him to suffer from 'interface astrocyte scarring', which made his brain extremely fragile, and the previous car accident was the last straw that broke the camel's back."

Aubrey, who had been listening silently, understood what Red meant, but there was still one thing he didn't quite understand. "But this doesn't explain why he went on a killing spree."

"Yes, but I think the answer should be in the 'Drado Falls' operation you mentioned. That should be his real breaking point.

Something must have happened during the operation that has been bothering him, and coupled with this attack of Capgras delusion, it has made him an extreme paranoid maniac. "

Clay had already figured out the reason according to Red's speculation, "Something happened during the operation that year that made Luke think it was a scandal or some truth that needed to be covered up. So when he got sick, he thought his good friend, former commander Adam Weiner, was replaced by someone else.

So he went to the Senarlock Company just to find an old friend, and the massacre was just a spur-of-the-moment decision."

(End of this chapter)