Chapter 1167: Interrogation (Part 2)

William slowly narrowed his eyes and said, "Who is that exception?"

Shiler shook his head and said, "I was just giving an example; I cannot provide you with specific names."

But William was relentless. He pressed further, asking, "Are you unable to treat students at the same level equally?"

"You are also a behavioral scientist. You should know that in this world, no one can achieve true equality. Everyone has personal likes and dislikes, and these preferences and aversions will inevitably be reflected through behavior."

"Then, have you ever tried your best to prevent your personal preferences from affecting educational fairness?"

Shiler fell silent.

William lowered his head slightly and said, "Professor Rodriguez, precisely because I am a behavioral scientist, I understand that there are no saints in this world. Everyone makes mistakes, but as long as they are within the bounds of morality and law, these mistakes can be forgiven."

"The investigation we are conducting on you now is to ensure that the mistakes you may have made at certain times did not cross these bottom lines."

"No one here wants to deny the achievements you have made in academia, nor does anyone want to criticize the educational failures you may have had. We all hope to secure a better educational environment for your students."

"Speaking for myself, being publicly accused so severely by so many of my own students is a huge blow to my teaching career."

"But from the moment I saw you, you haven't shown any signs of sadness or disappointment; you have been calm from beginning to end."

"If you were wrongly accused, you should feel angry. If you knew you had done something wrong, you should feel guilty or reflective. But you have done neither, which proves that you actually don't care about these students who are accusing you."

William walked to the front of the table and began to pace. While looking down at the floor, he said, "In all the cases of students accusing teachers that I have handled, almost every teacher is very interested in the specific list of students accusing them and the statements they made during their accusations."

"Without exception, they all use intense language to demand that we tell them exactly who accused them and why, or on what grounds they are accusing them. But you are not curious about any of these questions."

"Honestly, I don't know what you are thinking. Your attention doesn't seem to be on the situation you are currently facing at all, but in fact, your wisdom and knowledge should tell you that this is a very serious matter. If you don't handle it properly, you could lose your reputation."

William walked up to Shiler, looked down at him, and said, "So, Professor Rodriguez, can you tell me, since you are neither thinking about these students nor thinking about yourself, then what exactly are you thinking about?"

Shiler looked away and did not meet William's gaze. William continued to ask, "I wonder if you remember that you have two students; one is named Roman Sionis, and the other is named Thomas Elliot. Do you have any impression of them?"

Shiler nodded. William carefully observed Shiler's expression but did not see any feeling of guilt on his face. William stepped back a few paces to create more space and then said:

"They accuse you of subjecting them to mental control and abuse. What is your take on this?"

Shiler was silent for a long time before saying, "I don't know why they would do this, but you are right; I don't feel angry about it. Perhaps it is because..."

Shiler pursed his lips, lowered his eyelids, and then said, "For some reasons, I failed to do my best to be fair, so I don't understand these two students, and I even feel very unfamiliar with them."

"I have never actively subjected them to any hypnotic control or suppression and abuse, but perhaps my neglect is the very reason they are accusing me."

William turned back and exchanged a look with Jimmy, both seeing the surprise in each other's eyes. William walked back to his seat, and Jimmy leaned forward, staring into Shiler's eyes, and said, "If I heard you correctly, Professor, you are admitting to their accusations against you?"

"I am just saying that they have a reason to accuse me." Shiler reached out with both hands to tighten his suit and then said, "Before this, I believed I was a good teacher. I prepared seriously for every knowledge point, disseminated knowledge as clearly and understandably as possible, and would not let my personal life delay my professional duties."

"But recently I discovered that if I devote too much attention to one student while neglecting others, it may lead to two serious consequences."

"That is, the student I deliberately pay attention to has no subjective initiative—they won't move unless pushed, and even when pushed, they don't move. Even if I wish I could stuff the knowledge points into their brain, they don't take it to heart at all."

"As a psychologist, I know deeply that when you devote attention to others, besides expressing your attitude of concern, you may also bring them pressure, turning the desire to understand and express into a desire to control."

"And those students who are neglected will not only harbor hatred toward me, but they may also harbor hatred toward the student I pay special attention to, which might lead to him being isolated, ostracized, or even bullied."

"This phenomenon is very common on campus. Students who receive extra favor from teachers don't necessarily have good popularity, or rather, it is precisely because they have received extra favor that they invite more jealousy and hatred."

"A true educator should not treat the jealousy and hatred projected onto special students as a simple personal behavior, but should also understand it as an educational failure."

"If this is caused by the educator's arrogance or prejudice, then the educator needs to be responsible for it. Not only must they be responsible for the bullying suffered by the student who received extra favor, but they must also be responsible for the students who appear to be villains due to the negative emotions generated by this unfairness."

Angela, sitting across the table, had her mouth twitch. She spoke before Jimmy and William could:

"Professor, you must be clear that everything you say in this interrogation could affect the results of your assessment. You must be responsible for your words."

Jimmy immediately turned his head and stopped Angela with a somewhat dissatisfied look. He sighed softly and then said, "To be honest, Professor, I feel admiration that you can say such things in this kind of setting. Not everyone can reflect so deeply on their own way of doing things; people are often blinded by their own perspective and like to beautify themselves."

"And if the result of you saying this in a certain setting might even directly affect your future career, then admitting mistakes and reflecting on yourself appears even greater."

Jimmy leaned back, tidied up the documents on the table, and then said, "Today's interrogation is over. The subsequent investigation will be divided into two parts."

"Agent Dodgson from the administrative investigation team will be responsible for investigating the accusations of murder and illegal imprisonment you are facing, while William and I will go to conduct psychological assessments on the students involved."

Jimmy stood up, walked over to shake hands with Shiler, who had also stood up, and looked into his eyes, saying, "The results of the psychological assessment may directly affect your evaluation results. We will try our best to remain fair and objective, but if the results are not satisfactory, we must also act impartially."

Shiler took a deep breath. His expression was also very calm, but Jimmy felt that he might have anticipated the result. Jimmy shook Shiler's hand firmly and added, "I will do my best to maintain the fairness of the assessment. The rest can only be left to God."

After the investigators and the recorder left the room, Shiler stood there for a long time and was silent for a long time.

It wasn't until the person outside the door waiting to pick him up became a bit impatient that Shiler finally walked out.

After finishing the interrogation, Jimmy, William, and Angela walked toward the archives room together. On the way, Jimmy said, "To be honest, I feel very nervous about today's interrogation. Everyone knows who Professor Rodriguez is."

"But the good news is that he appeared exceptionally honest; the bad news is that the assessment results might not be very good," Jimmy said, shaking his head.

William also sighed softly and said, "But judging from what he said, I think he is a respectable teacher. There might be some mistakes, which can be forgiven, but unfortunately, being in a high position means having to accept nitpicking. I have already seen many cases that were human nature but were misunderstood after being magnified."

The three stopped at the door of the archives room. Jimmy opened the door and said to Angela, "Ms. Dodgson, thank you for your hard work today. If there is nothing else, you can go back and rest."

Angela handed the documents in her hand to Jimmy, looked at him, and said, "I'm very sorry. Today's interrogation reminded me of some things I encountered when I was a child. If there was anything inappropriate in what I said, I apologize for it."

Jimmy's expression relaxed a bit. He shook his head and said to Angela, "It's nothing major, but you have to understand that we must try to remain objective and fair."

After leaving the front of the archives room, Angela left the FBI base located in the New Jersey metropolitan area in a bit of a hurry. After returning to the hotel where she was staying, she dialed a special number.

"Hello? Mr. Wei En? I am Angela Dodgson. We have met before; you should have an impression... Yes, that's right, I was with Constantine at the time."

"You should have already heard about your university professor Shiler Rodriguez accepting an investigation for malpractice. The situation now is very pessimistic... Can we meet and talk?"

"Okay, I am in a hotel in Lavilla County, in the eastern part of the metropolitan area. This is the FBI's largest base in New Jersey. When you send a helicopter to pick me up, please do not enter their surveillance range."

"What? The roof? What's wrong with the hotel roof?... Open the window? Why do I have to open the window?"

Angela showed an extremely puzzled expression. She pulled the phone cord and walked to the window. The moment she pulled back the curtains, she froze in place.

A strange, pitch-black aircraft with a bat symbol printed on it was hovering outside the window, and in the cockpit, Bruce Wei En was waving at her. ===== CHAPTER 1168 =====