Mysterious Hunting Ground

Chapter 156 156. Magic Show
The cinema was just outside the mall, and Dean and Jonathan arrived at the entrance of the cinema within a few steps.

It's filled with Raiders of the Lost Ark facades, posters and figurines of Harrison Ford in a rugged Mulholland Drive biker jacket, fedora and whip.

During the summer vacation, many students came in and out, took photos with posters and statues, and the atmosphere was extremely hot.

The two passed through the crowd and found the manager of the theater, a middle-aged man with a pot belly and a little bald head, and explained his intention.

"There is only one movie theater in the town, and basically all Hawkins students are our regular customers, including Peter. He comes here about once every half a month." The fat man handed back Peter's photo and accepted Dean's five dollars. "Consulting fees," recalls,
"Most students watch movies together, but Peter is often alone, and occasionally bring Jonathan by your side. He also has a heavy taste in watching movies, so I am deeply impressed by him."

"So can you tell me about the Monica magic show that rented your venue?"

"It was almost half a month ago. Monica set up a tent in the square next to the cinema, and presented a well-prepared magic show for the people of Hawkins for two consecutive nights, each lasting about three hours. I clearly remember, Peter came to a magic show before he was hospitalized."

Dean looked at the progress of the investigation, which jumped from 12.00% to 13.00%.

"Monica is beautiful, gentle, kind, and passionate. She is simply the perfect dream lover. The men in Hawkins town are all crazy about this magic stunner. If the tickets are not too expensive, the following people are not allowed to enter, and the teenagers bursting with hormones will be overwhelmed." That tent." The fat manager was full of praise, "But there is a reason why it is expensive, and those wonderful magic tricks are totally worth the ticket price."

"What impressed me the most was two of the magic tricks - the three-pointed human body and the blindfolded extreme magic. Monica needs the audience in the audience to be volunteers."

"Three parts of the human body?" Jonathan interrupted curiously,
"Haven't you seen it?" The fat manager cut the air three times with his palm horizontally, "Put a person in a wooden box and cut it in half with a huge blade. That person is still alive and well, with fluent articulation and clear mind. Can joke with humor."

"GOD!" Jonathan opened his mouth enviously, "I should sneak in without telling Joyce!"

"Why do you need volunteers, doesn't Monica have an assistant?" Dean interjected.

"There are no assistants, except for the theater staff to help arrange the venue. This delicate beauty is responsible for most of the rest of the magic show. She handles things very neatly."

Dean nodded,

The fat manager continued happily, "Blindfolded extreme magic is more dangerous. Monica blindfolded the selected audience, and then directed him to throw a dart at the apple on the head of another volunteer. I swear, as long as the hands shake If the shot misses by an inch, the volunteer will be headshot and ascended to heaven."

"It must have been colluded in advance." Jonathan looked disbelieving, "100% of the audience who threw darts blindfolded had received a lot of professional training in advance."

"It's not called magic if it's so easy to see through." The fat manager shook his head. "The people who threw the darts were all from the town. I met Monica for the first time that night. How could they collude in advance?"

"That's really amazing." Jonathan admired.

Dean wondered if this Monica was a superpower, but it was only a rough inference, and the progress did not change.

"Who is the volunteer with the apple on his head?"

"You guessed it, it was Peter. Everyone enthusiastically signed up to throw throwing knives, but Peter was the only one who was willing to stand in the center of the stage as a target, and he was the only one who was willing to lie down in the magic box and let the blade cut in the middle."

The fat manager paused, and said in surprise,

"In my impression, Peter has always been a weird, introverted, and low-key kid, but that night he showed extraordinary courage and stood on the magic stage that everyone was looking forward to."

"Time and time again, three people threw knives at him, and then he lay in the magic cabinet and was cut back and forth a dozen times by sharp big blades." The fat manager patted his fat chest in shock, and almost missed the button. Stretched out, "I was so scared that I almost peed my pants when I watched it offstage."

Jonathan turned pale when he heard it, but couldn't believe it,
"Peter is not the kind of showman."

"Who knows, but Peter, apart from being a little nervous at first, was calm beyond his years for the most part. But he was still too young."

The fat manager pursed his lips,
"Having experienced a fatal magic trick is enough to brag about for a lifetime. If you joke about your own life again, you are a fool. After all, no matter how wonderful the performance is, the magician will not give him a dollar."

……

Dean listened to Fatty talk about various magic items, they are all common items in later generations, and there is nothing worth paying attention to, so he asked,
"Did Monica mention the next show location?"

"No..." the fat manager said, looking at the customers entering the movie theater outside the gate, "I talked to her, she wandered around the world in a big truck alone, without a fixed destination, and stopped for a few minutes when she saw a place she liked. Today, hold a magic show to save some traveling expenses and living expenses. Her lifestyle is a bit like a gypsy, always on the road, never stopping, but she doesn't have the bad habit of stealing things."

"In short, it depends on luck to see her again."

Gypsy?

This life is quite free and comfortable.

Dean asked again, "She didn't leave any contact information or identity information?"

The manager smiled mysteriously after hearing this,
"Young man, have you also been seduced by our beautiful magician? But you know, young people who ask me for her contact information can line up from the entrance of our movie theater to the police station. I couldn't help calling out Monica's name, and then a tooth was knocked out by the family tigress."

The manager gloated and shook his head,

"All men are crazy about her. But it's a pity that Monica is a white rose that can't be seen or touched, and she didn't leave any private information except a name."

"Isn't this in compliance with the rules?" Jonathan asked in bewilderment, "She is performing in our small town, so she doesn't need to register with the police station or the government hall?"

"Son, this is the real society, not the law books. How can there be so many rules in a small place like ours, and a big beauty is not harmful to society, not to mention that she gave a wonderful performance to let the people The folks have feasted their eyes and paid the rent for the venue, so how can I embarrass her?"

When Dean heard this, he glanced at the progress bar that didn't move when it rose to 15.00%, and he couldn't figure it out.

If it is said that Peter's coma is related to the magician Monica, this progress is too little.

But it is also a clue after all, he continued to ask,

"So we don't have any way to contact Monica?"

"In theory, but you can go to the surrounding towns to try your luck, maybe she will stay in those places."

"Okay," Dean noticed the impatience on the manager's face, and handed out another "Lincoln" bribe. "The last question, did anyone have any physical or verbal conflicts with Peter in the tent that day?"

"How is it possible?" The manager accepted the money with a smile, "Everyone applauds Peter's bravery."

……

Dean took Jonathan out of the cinema,

"Man, are you really going to find Monica in another town?" Jonathan said hesitantly, "I don't think she or the magic show audience has anything to do with Peter's illness."

"This matter is not urgent. Didn't you say that Peter often wanders in the mall, let's go and ask."

(End of this chapter)