Chapter 918: The Detective's Method of Treatment

The ground floor of the Three Cats Inn was built as a completely open space, with only one area beneath the staircase raised a single step above the normal floor. The second floor, on the other hand, was like an atrium, with tables arranged all around its perimeter; leaning against the railing, one could look directly down at the first floor—this was so that patrons on the second floor could also watch the bard's performances below.

The inn looked just as it always had. The proprietress, Madame Madame Sangmei, gave the two of them a warm welcome. The doctor took Xia De upstairs, and they took a seat in a secluded corner on the second floor.

The afternoon fog still hung thick over Tobesk; after all, steam-pipe heating would be switched on citywide the following Monday, and lately the factories had been belching out far more waste gas than usual. On top of that, the weather today was poor to begin with, so although it was still afternoon, the Three Cats Inn had already lit its gas lamps. But to save on gas, the light they gave off was not very strong.

The doctor first went up to the third floor to fetch his patient, Mr. Jims, and told Xia De to sit and wait for a moment. Since the doctor had already ordered drinks from the scantily-clad barmaid, Xia De didn't need to do anything extra.

After the doctor left, he sat there sizing up the other patrons. To help Mr. Jims stay a little calmer, Doctor Shi Nai De had chosen a corner in the southeast of the second floor. And with Friday afternoon being a slow time anyway, when Xia De looked around, the only other person he could see was a middle-aged woman sitting with her back to him on the opposite side of the atrium, against the wall, holding a wine glass.

"A woman drinking alone at an inn on a Friday afternoon?"

Xia De caught a whiff of "the smell of a story," but since he wasn't a writer like Dorothy, although curious, he had no intention of investigating.

Doctor Shi Nai De had not yet returned when their drinks arrived—and the one who came up the staircase carrying the tray was none other than the inn's proprietress, Madame Madame Sangmei.

"Madame Madame Sangmei, you wouldn't have run off all the waitresses to save on expenses just because business is slow this afternoon, would you?"

Xia De asked with a smile. The proprietress, wearing an apron, set the glasses down on the table one by one:

"Oh, Detective, this is only out of respect for Reginald Hamilton that I've brought your drinks up myself!"

Madame Madame Sangmei said with a smile as well. After setting the glasses down, she also placed a plate of fried beans in the center of the table:

"This is for you?"

"Why?"

Xia De blinked.

"These past few days I've been hearing people mention 'the Detective's Penny Problem,' and whenever folks in the city bring it up, they mention our place."

Madame Madame Sangmei said:

"Consider it thanks, Detective—you've made us even more famous."

Xia De reached out, pinched a bean, and tossed it into his mouth:

"Only one plate of beans—isn't that a bit stingy?"

Not long after Madame Madame Sangmei left, Doctor Shi Nai De returned with Mr. Jims. Contrary to what Xia De had imagined, although Mr. Jims was thin and short, he showed no signs of being "neurotic" or behaving oddly.

Mr. Jims was a middle-aged man in his thirties. He had already learned of Xia De's identity from Doctor Shi Nai De, and politely extended his hand to greet him first.

When the three sat down, Doctor Shi Nai De took the seat with his back to the wall, Xia De sat across from the doctor, and Mr. Jims sat to the doctor's left—Xia De's right.

Doctor Shi Nai De's psychological consultation didn't require Xia De to chime in, so he sat to the side listening as the doctor asked Mr. Jims about his schedule that week and the problems he'd encountered in recent days.

From their conversation, Xia De learned that Mr. Jims's "persecution delusion" was not a feeling that someone was always trying to kill him, but rather a feeling that his surroundings were saturated with accidents—that any little disturbance could trigger a fatal crisis.

Seeing someone playing with a dagger, he would be certain the dagger would be thrust at him; seeing a banana peel ahead, he would be certain he would step on it, slip, and die; even seeing stray cats and dogs rummaging through garbage bins in an alley, he would believe those wild animals would harm him.

This psychological problem had appeared three months earlier. Mr. Jims was not a local of Tobesk, but an accountant from the more northerly city of Antulu. He had sought help from a psychologist there, but without much success. It happened that the "Levant Wool Supply and Marketing Company" he worked for had sent him to Tobesk to settle year-end accounts with a local upstream supplier, so through an introduction he had found Doctor Shi Nai De.

Of course, although the patient himself believed he could lose his life at any moment, in the three months since this "illusion" had appeared, he had not actually been injured in any accident—apart from a mild cold that lasted a few weeks. However, as time went on, Mr. Jims's "sense of impending crisis" had grown ever stronger, to the point that now he was even unwilling to go to unfamiliar places like Doctor Shi Nai De's clinic.

Doctor Shi Nai De had tried analyzing Mr. Jims's psychological state from every angle, and over the past few weeks had prescribed him some sedatives and sleep aids. This approach could indeed ease his tension, but it had little effect on Mr. Jims's "fatal-crisis sensing."

Their conversation lasted over half an hour. Doctor Shi Nai De had gained a preliminary understanding of his patient's psychological changes that week, so he signaled that it was Xia De's turn.

Xia De didn't think he could be of much use, but since he was already here, he treated it as a detective investigation:

"Mr. Jims, before this strange idea suddenly came over you three months ago, did anything unusual happen to you?"

He asked carefully.

"Doctor Shi Nai De and I have already combed through my past together, looking for anything that might have affected my mindset."

Mr. Jims said, shaking his head slightly.

"No, no, what I mean is—did you visit a cemetery, an abandoned country church, a strange shop in an alley, or buy any odd pendants, eerie statues, or old books with leather covers?"

Xia De asked with a serious expression. Mr. Jims thought for a moment before he understood what he meant:

"Detective, you mean..."

"It's only one possibility. I don't endorse introducing theology into the study of psychic science, but sometimes we have to consider causes from every angle."

Xia De said. Doctor Shi Nai De beside him also nodded:

"This is why I brought the detective along. Of course, you don't need to pay the detective any extra fee for it."

Only then did Mr. Jims feel reassured. He thought for a moment:

"I'm sorry, I don't think I came into contact with anything strange."

"I see..."

Xia De thought for a moment, then proposed another idea:

"Since you feel you're constantly shrouded in fatal danger, have you tried actually putting yourself in harm's way? Perhaps once you've truly escaped death, the strange psychological feeling will vanish. It's a bit like using one poison to cure another."

"Is there really such a cure?"

Mr. Jims asked curiously, but then immediately nodded:

"It does sound reasonable, but how would I put myself in danger?"

"That's simple."

Xia De reached his hand inside his coat, glanced left and right, then drew the 【Gun of Kindness】 from his holster. He took it out under Mr. Jims's astonished gaze and slapped it down on the table:

"Use this."