Chapter 4217

Although the atmosphere had reached a point of tension, they still sat down together for breakfast. During the meal, the agent had been observing the few people.

Somewhat strangely, Aunt Kane's eating movements didn't look like those of a destitute poor person. Although she looked a bit old, her attire was simple, and her words weren't very civilized, but from some small details, one could tell that she didn't look like a small-town girl, but rather like a rich girl from a big city.

Kate obviously noticed this too, because she was also a rich girl. She was Batman's cousin, her mother and Batman's mother, Martha, both came from the Kane family, and the Kane family was once one of the four major families in Cat Getan. For people who have received etiquette education since childhood, some habits are hard to change.

For example, when Kate and Aunt Kane were drinking soup, their spoons were scooped outward, that is, from their own direction toward the opposite direction, rather than scooping from outside to inside like many people's habits.

It is said that this rule comes from aristocratic banquets in the Middle Ages and may have originated in the Spanish region. Why this is the case is no longer verifiable. One speculation is to prevent the spoon from touching the vessel and making an unrefined sound, but this is not certain, nor is there a more plausible explanation, and it only circulates in a very small range; it seems that Catholic missionaries in the Irish region brought this tradition to the United States. It's just that except for those very old and conservative Catholic families, no one does this anymore.

And very coincidentally, among the first to land on the east coast of the United States were Irish missionaries, so this etiquette was also passed down to Cat Getan's upper class; both Bruce Wayne and Kate Kane, this pair of cousins, knew it.

The problem is that Westview Town should be a western city, and it's not really coastal; it counts as an inland city, and it's also very small, and the economic level looks very backward. There couldn't be any decent upper-class people in this place.

That would mean Aunt Kane might have come from the east coast, and it's possible it was a big city on the east coast, such as New York, Chicago, Boston, etc. But why she married into this small town, and why she didn't go home after her husband died, no one knew.

To say it was for her daughter actually doesn't make sense at all. When they came on the first day, Aunt Kane's eyes were almost glued to Shiler. She saw that Shiler was a rich man and wanted to introduce her daughter to him, which proved she really wanted her daughter to marry up.

But in such a remote small town, how could any real rich person come over? Even if it's all in the west, wouldn't people go to Los Angeles for vacation? If she wanted her daughter to marry well, she had to take her to a big city. Her daughter is nineteen, not just born, and this broken house has no value, so why not go back to their hometown together?

Realizing that Aunt Kane's background might be a clue, the agent began to probe again. Using his identity advantage, he pretended to be very interested in Linda and kept asking questions.

Magically, Aunt Kane responded very well. Don't look at how urgent she was at first, as if she didn't care about her face, but at this time, she didn't over-boast, and words like "Kane family's granddaughter" were mentioned in her speech.

Once such words came out, the agent understood that the Kane family was also a big family here; even if she was a granddaughter, she was considered a good background. And not mentioning her husband's family meant that her husband was likely a local, unknown, and destitute.

This was even stranger: a rich girl from a big city on the east coast married into such a remote place, and didn't go home after her husband died; how much hatred must she have for her original family?

But considering her attitude toward her own niece, maybe she really did have a very unpleasant falling out with her family.

Breakfast ended in an atmosphere of everyone having their own ulterior motives. Kate still insisted on taking Peter to see a doctor; Peter appeared very helpless, but Shiler knew very well that they must have discussed it, just that one was playing the good cop and the other the bad cop.

And his secret act of taking medicine hadn't been discovered by Aunt Kane. Although the Hunter was still a bit weak, he was much better; instead, the agent's left arm was almost unable to lift.

Fortunately, they didn't have to do any physical work now, and could still cover it up. And soon, Aunt Kane suggested letting Linda take them around to see the creek valley and the waterfall.

Shiler also happened to want to take this opportunity to familiarize himself with the town's terrain, figure out where that jack-in-the-box that hurt them both came from, and what secrets this town had.

Linda wore a denim overall dress, her hair braided into two thick braids, walking in front without saying a word. Both Shilers followed behind her, pretending to be interested in sightseeing.

Because their car hadn't been driven over, they could only walk; fortunately, the town wasn't big, and after walking for twenty minutes, they entered the forest. And after passing through a dense forest, a stream appeared before their eyes.

This was a canyon that was high in the north and low in the south, with the stream passing right through the middle of the canyon, and there was a small waterfall upstream. Many deciduous trees around were already bare, but there were still many evergreen pine trees, so the scenery was not bad.

Walking upstream, the agent began to try to chat with Linda. He said, "There should be a lot of anadromous fish here, right? It's a good place for fishing; have you ever fished?"

Linda shook her head in silence.

"Then you really should try it; fishing is very interesting. Before, on Loch Lomond in Scotland, I caught a particularly large salmon."

"Spawning season?" Linda asked.

The agent was slightly stunned, nodded, and said, "That's right. At that time, the demand for food by fish is relatively large, and they are easier to hook; I admit, fishing at that time is indeed relatively simple. But I'm not a professional angler, just enjoying the fun."

"It is indeed very fun," Linda said.

The agent was really a bit confused. Linda's tone when saying this was a bit strange, revealing a kind of eerie smile, but the agent didn't understand what was worth smiling about when fishing for salmon.

Linda's body movements were very few, and she spoke very little, which led to insufficient samples for behavioral analysis. The agent could only continue to say, "You should have a lot of fish here too. There should be a fishing gear store in town; we can go shopping in a while and buy a fishing rod or something. Fishing here doesn't require a license, right?"

"No need," Linda replied, "but we don't have a fishing gear store here."

"Alright." The agent didn't really want to fish; he just wanted to fish for information.

"But I can make you a fishing rod," Linda said. "You tell me what kind you want, and I can make it for you."

The agent said somewhat surprisingly, "Didn't you say you've never fished? You know how to make a fishing rod?"

"I haven't fished, but my manual work is very good. My father was a carpenter, and he taught me everything he knew. I make furniture for many people; if it's just a simple wooden fishing rod, it should be no problem."

"Alright, then what materials do you need? The two friends who brought us here came from Westview City; they should be able to get things that aren't in town."

"Just get the fishing line ready," Linda said.

The agent nodded. This was quite surprising; not only did he ask about her father's profession before he died, but he could also harvest a prop. Although he didn't know what the fishing rod was for, it was fine to build a good relationship with Linda.

He was ready to go find the Hen-Sup duo in a while; these two definitely hadn't left. They didn't meet others on the road by chance, but came specifically for this town; the agent could still see that.

Walking to the bottom of the waterfall, Linda suddenly pointed to the place where the waterfall splashed water and said, "There are a lot of fish there."

"Ah, yes, because the waterfall will oxygenate. That is to say, the oxygen content there is relatively high, and many fish will go there to breathe."

"Do fish also need to breathe?"

"Of course, their gills are used to filter air. In water with relatively high oxygen content, fish schools will gather. This is indeed a good fishing spot."

"Can you teach me how to fish?"

"It's possible. Fishing is not difficult; as long as there are fish schools, you can catch a lot easily."

"Can I catch salmon?"

"This is not certain. There may not be salmon in your water system. However, there are many in the water system on the west coast; perhaps there are some here too."

"When do salmon spawn?"

"Generally winter, which is the current season."

The agent found that Linda smiled again, and it was that kind of heartfelt, but also somewhat creepy smile. Kate was right; this niece of hers was probably really crazy.

After seeing the natural scenery, they had to go to the town to wander around. This town was really not big, and they finished shopping in a while. However, what made the agent feel a bit confused was that this town lacked many necessary facilities.

"Don't you have a police station here?" the agent asked somewhat puzzled. You know, during the western development, the first thing built was a police station; the foundation of a small town's establishment was the police station. Without a police station, the state government basically wouldn't approve the establishment of a small town.

"There used to be one, but it was withdrawn later."

"Withdrawn? Then does this place still count as a town?"

"Perhaps not. No outsiders have come for many years, because this small town is not on the new map, only on some old maps."

The agent thought that the map Peter took out before did indeed look like it had some years on it. In other words, the establishment of this small town had been cancelled. However, if there was no government funding, how was public service maintained?

But soon he figured it out: there weren't many households left in this town, most of the houses had been abandoned, and the remaining ones were also tightly closed, and it was impossible to tell if anyone was there. In this case, I'm afraid there was no need for any public service; just pray for yourself.

However, the agent also found that this small town should have been quite prosperous: on one hand, there were many houses, and on the other hand, they were built quite well; even the broken-down old house where Aunt Kane lived was a stone house, not a wooden house newly built in the new century. This proved that the residents here used to be quite capable.

On the other hand, the town planning was quite good, various living convenience facilities that used to exist were all quite close, and there was a small square, which seemed to be used for a market. If there weren't enough townspeople, there wouldn't be such a place.

Continuing to walk out of the town, there was a park built next to the downstream of the creek, and next to the park was a cemetery. The agent specifically wanted to go over and walk around.

This was actually not abrupt, because in European and American countries, a cemetery is a good place for relaxation and leisure, and there is no taboo, otherwise it wouldn't have been built so close to the town.

However, it's not that there are no taboos for any cemetery. In European and American culture, a cemetery that is built and well-maintained is fine, and it is seen as a place close to God, but a mass grave is not okay. They will think that it is full of the souls of sinners and will suffer Satan's curse; a grave that has fallen into disrepair is also unlucky, because it may allow the souls of the living to become vengeful spirits. Both of these need to be avoided.

And after the agent walked over, he found that the cemetery of this small town was actually quite well-maintained. Although there were indeed some weeds and the tombstones were covered with dust, it looked relatively tidy, and there was no situation where the graves were leaning.

Just as they stepped into the cemetery, a group of crows suddenly flew in from the east and landed in the cemetery in large patches. The agent narrowed his eyes. In the west, crows are usually regarded as unlucky things; is this foreshadowing something?