At this moment, there were still five days left before Fiona Bennett realized that Frank Bishop wanted to kill her.

6

The officer in charge of Gabriel Adams's case was surnamed Leonard Carter, in his thirties, always with a cigarette in hand. Fiona Bennett had put in quite a bit of effort, making several trips, before finally getting him to sit down and listen to her for a few minutes.

Fiona Bennett said, "I'm Gabriel Adams's younger sister. How is his case progressing?" Officer Leonard Carter asked, "Cousin or real sister?" Fiona Bennett replied, "I just call him brother." Officer Leonard Carter said, "Anyway, the family will be notified once there’s a result. Before that, we definitely can’t disclose any details of the case."

Fiona Bennett said, "How could there be a cult that wants to eat people’s kidneys? That’s just absurd. There must be something else going on here, and it’s very likely that the person who killed Gabriel Adams wasn’t a woman." Fiona Bennett explained her own investigation, including how the murderer pretended to be mute and the fact that there were often cross-dressers at the Blue Bar. She concluded, "Gabriel Adams wouldn’t have followed the killer just for fun. The relationship here definitely isn’t as simple as it looks on the surface."

After Fiona Bennett finished, Officer Leonard Carter said, "Thank you for providing clues, but citizens should trust the police and believe in our abilities." Then he neither made any promises nor gave any conclusions, and certainly didn’t reveal anything, just sent Fiona Bennett on her way.

That night, Fiona Bennett talked to Frank Bishop about it, feeling the police were a bit irresponsible, ignoring such obvious suspicious points. Frank Bishop said, "That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re ignoring them. Maybe they already know what you said. If you could find it out, wouldn’t the police be able to? Wouldn’t they suspect the killer is a man?" Fiona Bennett said, "That’s not certain." Frank Bishop sighed and said, "If the police really investigated in the direction you want, what would happen? Would they re-investigate Susan Wright's death? Is that what you want?" Fiona Bennett said, "Of course. I kind of regret not telling them that I asked Gabriel Adams to look into the case. Actually, that would be very helpful for the police. Maybe I should tell them."

Frank Bishop told Fiona Bennett to rest early, but Fiona Bennett said no, she wanted to think about the case a bit more. She locked herself in the small room, once again looking at the letters taped to the curtain, the desk board carved with strange symbols, and flipping through Gabriel Adams's textbooks.

Dear Fiona Bennett, hello.

When you read this letter, it means I have turned into stardust, drifting in the desolate void of the Milky Way. The sea of stars—whenever you look up at night, between the stars, I am one of those in the endless darkness, but by the starlight, I think I can see your face.

Do you still remember the day the Zenithians first arrived on Earth? The whole sky darkened, everyone in the school went out to the playground, a huge beam of light descended, and no one knew what was happening. Only later did we see on the news the exposed riverbed of the Huangpu River, all its water instantly evaporated, and the entire Bund vanished. Many people cried, everyone thought the end of the world had come. I used to be very far from you, but that day, when I saw you cry, I felt our distance suddenly shrink. During that time, everyone was seeking pleasure. Do you remember when I confessed to you? Maybe you don’t remember clearly, because many boys confessed to you. I remember your answer: you asked me, "Can you protect me?" I couldn’t answer.

When the army came to recruit at school, I was among the first to sign up and passed the physical exam. By then, many people had already died, and I applied for the most difficult and deadliest position—starfighter pilot. Before enlisting, I found you. Do you remember our conversation? I asked, if the world didn’t end, if I could come back alive, could I pursue you? You said, if I became a great hero riding on auspicious clouds, then yes. I knew that was a line from a movie. I didn’t know if you were rejecting me or if I still had a chance. Anyway, I remembered your words. When I was enduring 20G acceleration in the starfighter, when I was locked on by three enemy fighters at once, when I charged into the Zenithian battle fortress’s main cannon beam to drop all the proton torpedoes, this was the reason I kept going.

The war was tough, but no one expected we could hold out this long. I received more and more combat medals, and many people saw me as a hero, but I still didn’t know if I could live up to the hero in your heart. Until the final battle, when I chose to take on this mission. Only then did I realize that, without noticing, I had reached this level—there were fewer than ten people in the whole army qualified for this mission. Crossing thirty thousand light-years to the other side of the galaxy to destroy the enemy’s home planet—what a feat. I knew this was a one-way mission. If I succeeded, everyone on Earth could survive. If I failed, I thought, there would be braver people to continue protecting humanity.

Actually, before leaving, I really wanted to hear from you.

If I succeeded, I would be your great hero, no doubt. In this world, it’s hard to have it both ways.

I’m about to go to the other side of the galaxy. Can I be your pursuer?

Goodbye, Fiona Bennett.

Note: This passage was written in the blank space between Section 2 and Section 3, Chapter 3, "Criminal Personality," in "Criminal Motivation and Personality."

Fiona Bennett closed the book and realized she was crying.

When she returned to the bedroom, Frank Bishop was already snoring softly. Fiona Bennett lay down gently, not disturbing him.

At this moment, there were only two days left before Fiona Bennett realized that Frank Bishop wanted to kill her.

II. Fellow Travelers

1

Gabriel Adams took a horse stance, the light shining on his face, making it hard to see his features. He stepped back half a step, shifting from horse stance to bow stance, raised his left hand in front of him to block, and struck out with his right hand from his waist, his form steady. This looked like a move from a martial arts routine, maybe one of the moves he performed at Fiona Bennett's hospital bedside, maybe this was the hospital room, a replay of yesterday.

Gabriel Adams stopped and turned to look at Fiona Bennett. Still, his face was indistinct, as if light was radiating from his entire skin, turning him into a blazing white soul, or an angel. Fiona Bennett knew he was smiling, speaking to her, as if saying, "Do you want to try it?"

Left arm raised, across the bridge of the nose, body lowered a bit more, then right hand clenched into a fist, pressed against the ribs, and punched forward.

"Miss Liu."

"Miss Liu?"

Fiona Bennett suddenly woke up, the mist of the illusion dissipating. Her right hand was holding the medical record, stretched straight out. Dr. Adams had turned sideways; if he hadn’t moved, the medical record would have been handed right to his nose.

"Ah, sorry." Fiona Bennett put the medical record on the table and sat down in front of Dr. Adams.

"Sorry, I was distracted," she apologized again.

"Were you... seeing something just now?" Dr. Adams asked.

"No, no, not at all. I was just thinking, got distracted."

This was 600 Wanping South Road—Shanghai Mental Health Center. Ever since Gabriel Adams passed away, Fiona Bennett had come here every week for Dr. Adams's specialist clinic. Fiona Bennett had asked Frank Bishop to help her get the introduction. When Frank Bishop heard her request, he was a bit surprised, but immediately agreed. After so many years, he certainly knew his wife’s mental state, but it hadn’t been serious enough to affect her life, so he hadn’t wanted to force her to see a psychiatrist.

It had been two days since the night of the scalpel. In the small world of Frank Bishop and Fiona Bennett, these two days seemed no different from usual. Frank Bishop hadn’t realized that Fiona Bennett had discovered something, and Fiona Bennett herself hadn’t figured out how to face it. Thoughts at night are always different from those in the day. When the sun rose the next day, Fiona Bennett felt that maybe things weren’t as bad as she’d thought the night before. Looking at a scalpel doesn’t necessarily mean wanting to kill. He was someone who cherished his career so much, it was impossible for him to commit a crime in such a crude and brutal way. However, to look at the knife is to reveal one’s heart. Maybe he was still hesitating, maybe he still cared about their years of marriage, but Frank Bishop’s intent to harm—Fiona Bennett would no longer deceive herself about that. The cross-dressing man in the bar was certainly not Frank Bishop, but the perpetrator A in the murder correspondence might be him. Even if he wasn’t one of those two, he was definitely in the know. The time left for Fiona Bennett to make up her mind was running out.

"Have you been taking your medication on time?" Dr. Adams asked with a smile.

"I’ve been taking it all along."

"How have you been feeling this week?"

"A bit better, I think, but nothing too obvious."

"How’s your sleep?"

"It’s a bit easier to fall asleep, but I still wake up a lot at night, and sleep is pretty light."

"Are you feeling any better mentally? You should go out more, get some sun, exercise a bit, don’t just stay at home all the time. And when you’re at home, don’t always stay in bed. The less you want to move, the more depressed you’ll get. Actually, depression is especially common in big cities, but very few people, like you, are aware of it and willing to come to the hospital. This awareness is very helpful for you to overcome depression. You can’t rely entirely on medication; you have to cooperate subjectively as well."

"Now I basically make sure to go out once a day, to buy groceries or take a walk. It really does feel better in the sun. Often I get pessimistic at night, but after moving around outside during the day, I feel much better."