Chapter 2 The Detective and the Professor

Tuesday morning.

A luxury sedan pulled into St. Thomas Academy. In the back seat sat a distinguished man wearing an elegant light-colored casual suit—Oliver West, the detective who had messaged Alison.

Oliver was tall with an athletic build, exactly 30 years old. His handsome face had completely shed its youthfulness, now exuding mature charm.

He worked as a consultant for national security agencies, only taking cases that interested him. His case-solving rate was a perfect one hundred percent.

"Mr. West, we've arrived," said his assistant—Taylor Scott, a sharp young man in his early twenties. "This academy is really luxurious. Have you been here before, Mr. West?"

Oliver gave him a strange look. "Why would I have been here before? I don't have any orphans in my family, and there haven't been any interesting murder cases here."

Speaking of cases, Taylor curiously glanced at Oliver through the rearview mirror. "Mr. West, although this case is somewhat bizarre, weren't you on vacation abroad with your girlfriend? Why did you agree to take this case?"

"Because I was bored," Oliver replied expressionlessly.

Taylor raised his eyebrows, shaking his head with a smile.

Oliver kicked the front seat, complaining, "I really don't understand women. They actively pursue me, passionately confess to me—I'm handsome, wealthy, generous, remember every anniversary, give gifts, and make time to vacation with them. Why are they still not satisfied? How many men in this world are as excellent as I am?"

Taylor somewhat regretted bringing up this topic.

Perhaps it was because life had been too smooth sailing for Oliver, resulting in his extremely conceited personality.

None of his girlfriends lasted more than three months. Once they realized how annoying Oliver's personality was, his external attractions would rapidly fade until they couldn't stand it anymore and broke up with him.

"You just haven't met your soulmate yet," Taylor secretly rolled his eyes, then changed the subject. "We seem to be early. I wonder what kind of person Alison is. I heard she's very young, a genius. Geniuses tend to have peculiar temperaments. Mr. West, let me handle the communication later."

Taylor's implication was for Oliver to speak less to avoid offending people, as such incidents had happened too many times before—Oliver would say he was wealthy and could solve most problems with money. In his view, he was just being honest, but to others, it came across as showing off, mockery, and arrogance.

Oliver snorted, "Do your job well. I pay you five times the market rate, not to be a driver or a decoration."

"Okay," Taylor responded.

The academic director received a call from the reception desk about Oliver and Taylor's visit and waited for them at the bottom of the teaching building.

"Good morning, I'm Steve, the academic director. You're here for Alison?" Steve asked with a solemn expression. "May I ask what this is about?"

"Have you heard about the Triple Hanging Case?" Taylor shook his hand. "Don't worry, Ms. Gray isn't a suspect. We just have a few questions for her."

"There's probably hardly anyone in the city who hasn't heard about the Triple Hanging Case," Steve attempted to joke, but the atmosphere wasn't quite right. "Alison is teaching now. Class ends at 8:50. Why don't you follow me to the reception room?"

"I can't wait that long," Oliver shook his head. "Take me directly to the classroom. I won't take up much of her time."

The video of the Triple Hanging Case had caused quite a stir online. It began with a flashlight beam illuminating a dusty, stained floor. The light source wobbled unsteadily, making the shadows on the ground tremble.

Three shaky human silhouettes entered the right side of the frame. As the camera zoomed in, two men and one woman appeared clearly—they were already dead, hanging upside down by their bound feet.

Their clothes had slid down with gravity, revealing bloodied bodies. Their naturally hanging hands were more than three feet above the ground, with blood flowing along the fingertips of the three deceased, pooling into a red puddle on the ground.

The young livestreamer who discovered them was nearly scared out of his mind. Now society at large was focused on this incident, and Oliver had been ordered to catch the real culprit within two weeks, so his time was limited.

At the crime scene, the three bodies formed an equilateral triangle. There were strange symbols on the hanging corpses. Oliver first consulted a symbologist to analyze the meaning of the symbols. The expert said they might be related to religion, so he sought the assistance of a religious studies expert. Someone recommended Alison to him, but she was only 26 years old.

Perhaps this trip would be a waste of time, Oliver thought without much expectation.

At that moment, Alison had completely forgotten about her agreement to meet with Oliver.

She hadn't slept well again last night, and her class happened to be first period today.

Low blood sugar made her mentally exhausted. After lecturing for ten minutes with no students paying attention, she simply announced self-study and sat at the edge of the podium, dozing with her chin propped on one hand.

In the last seat by the window sat a tall male student. His name was Matthew Thompson, nearly of age, over six feet tall with a robust build, suffering from mania.

His classmates all knew about his violent tendencies, so the seats around him were empty.

He had been sleeping on his desk since he arrived that morning. The classroom, without teacher supervision, grew increasingly noisy, making it difficult for him to sleep.

Looking up to see Alison dozing at the podium, he suddenly pushed his desk away. The desk legs scraped across the floor with a piercing sound. Others looked over, but he ignored everyone and walked straight toward Alison.

A fierce punch came flying, and Alison's eyes snapped open as she quickly tilted her head to dodge.

Matthew's expression was grim as his hard fist swung at Alison's temple again. Alison sidestepped with agility and kicked him in the stomach, forcing him back several steps until he crashed into two rows of desks and chairs.

When Matthew attacked Alison, the other students seemed accustomed to it. But when Alison kicked Matthew flying, they finally showed surprised expressions.

With such a dramatic difference in their builds, how could Alison defeat Matthew?

Meantime, Oliver and the others were heading to the Special Program classroom.

The Thomas Special Program was located on the top floor, occupying an entire level. Along the way, Steve enthusiastically introduced the academy's history and cultural environment. Just as he was saying how well-behaved the students were, they saw children from the Special Program standing outside the classroom, laughing, playing, and idling around. Looking past the crowd, they could see two people fighting inside.

Steve's eyes instantly widened as he shouted, "Stop it right now!"

The students made way, exposing the scene inside the classroom to the three men without any obstruction.

Alison's hair was disheveled, looking rather bedraggled, but she was in much better shape than Matthew with his bruised face. Although Matthew was stronger and more robust than her, he was far less agile and experienced in combat.

Hearing Steve's rebuke, Alison panted as she distanced herself from Matthew. Fatigue and violence had pushed her to the edge, triggering agnosia. The world became distorted, and everyone lost their original appearance. In her eyes, Matthew had transformed into a robust black-faced, long-armed gibbon.

Counterattacking was instinctive—if she didn't stop now, she couldn't guarantee what she might do.

Matthew's eyes flashed with ferocity as he suddenly lunged at Alison, attempting to deliver a heavy blow.

Alison stepped swiftly behind Matthew, crossing her arms to lock his neck. Matthew grunted, elbowing backward. Alison released her arms, using Matthew's struggling momentum to throw him away.

The staggering Matthew nearly crashed into Oliver, who dodged to the side as Matthew fell on his backside.

Steve helped Matthew up, fuming with anger. "Alison! This is the second time! You've assaulted a student again! You must give me a reasonable explanation!"

Oliver looked at her in astonishment, while Taylor's mouth gaped slightly.

This violent woman was Alison?