Chapter 8 Chapter 8 Monsters

A guard came to Tracy and said, "Someone wants to see you, Whitney." Tracy looked at her in surprise. "see me?" Who is it?She suddenly remembered.It was Charles, and he came at last, but he was late.He wasn't there when Tracy needed him most.Well, I don't need him anymore.I ask no one. Tracy followed the guard from the passage to the reception room. Tracy walked into the drawing room. A stranger sat at a small wooden table.Rarely had Tracy seen such an ugly person.He was a short, bloated, androgynous man; his nose was long and pointed, his lips were small and thin, his forehead was high and high, and his concentrated brown eyes were magnified several times by thick spectacles.

He didn't get up. "My name is Daniel Cooper. The warden has given me permission to speak to you." "About what?" Tracy asked suspiciously. "I'm an investigator with Conservative International. A client has insured with us a famous Renoir painting that was stolen from Joseph Romano's house." Tracy took a deep breath. "I can't help you. I didn't steal the painting." She turned and walked toward the door. Cooper's next words stopped her: "I know you didn't steal." Tracy turned to watch him cautiously, intently.

"Nobody stole that painting. They set you up, Miss Whitney." Tracy sat down slowly on a chair. Three weeks earlier, Daniel Cooper had been summoned by his boss, JJ Reynolds, at the headquarters of the United Protection International in Manhattan.From that day on, Cooper began to participate in the investigation of this case. "I have a mission for you, Dan," Reynolds said. Daniel Cooper hated being called "Dan" the most. "Long story short." Reynolds wanted to rush through the task because Cooper was making him uncomfortable.Virtually everyone in the company felt uncomfortable with Cooper.He was an eccentric -- many people called him a monster.Daniel Cooper doesn't mingle at all.No one knew where he lived or whether he had a wife or children.He doesn't make friends and never attends office parties or meetings.He is a loner.Reynolds didn't oust him for one reason: He was extremely capable.He's a good hound with a brain like a computer.Daniel Cooper has found more lost property and solved more insurance fraud cases than all other investigators in the company combined.Reynolds wondered what was going on in this Cooper's head.Cooper sat opposite, staring at him with brown eyes that made him shudder.

Reynolds said, "A company has secured a painting with us worth half a million dollars..." "It was a Renoir. It happened in New Orleans, at Joe Romano's house. A woman named Tracy Whitney was arrested and sentenced to fifteen years, and the painting has not been found. " The son of a bitch!thought Reynolds.If someone else said something like that, I would think he was showing off. "Yes," Reynolds admitted reluctantly, "that woman named Whitney hid the painting, and we have to find it. Send you to find it." Cooper turned and walked out of the office without a word.Watching his back, Reynolds thought—he had thought so many times—one day, I'm going to find out what's going on with this guy.

Cooper walked across the office.Fifty employees work together here, some are operating computers, some are typing reports on typewriters, and some are answering the phone.It's like a madhouse. As Cooper walked past a desk, a co-worker said, "I heard you took Romano's case. You're lucky. New Orleans is..." Cooper walked forward without a word.Why do they keep having trouble with him?He wanted nothing more than peace and quiet, but they kept chasing him with overzealousness. It became a joy in the office.They are determined to uncover the secret of this withdrawn colleague and find out his life experience.

"Dan, where are you going for dinner on Friday night? . . . " "Dan, if you're not married, Sarah and I know a very nice girl..." Couldn't they see that he didn't need their help, and didn't want to associate with them? "Come on, it's just a cup of coffee..." Daniel Cooper sees this through.First a casual cup of coffee, then dinner together, then friends, then everything.It's too dangerous. Daniel lives in fear that one day someone will learn about his past. "Time goes by forever, and the dead don't come back to life." This is a lie.The dead often come back to life.Every two or three years, the scandal press would dig up that old scandal, and Daniel Cooper would disappear for days.Only at such times does he get very drunk.

If Daniel Cooper revealed his deepest feelings, psychiatrists would consider them excellent material for analysis.But Cooper will never talk about his past to others.The only physical evidence he has of that horrible day so long ago is a clipping of a faded receipt.He carefully locked the clipping in his room where no one could find it.He often took out newspaper clippings to read as punishment for himself, but every word in that article had been seared into his heart. Cooper showers or takes baths at least three times a day, but he still doesn't feel clean.He really believed in the existence of hell and hellfire, and he knew that his only salvation was expiation and atonement.He was going to work for the NYPD, but he was four inches shorter and failed his medical.So he became a private detective.He considered himself a hunter, following the trail of lawbreakers.He is God's avenger, and his duty is to bring the punishment of heaven on the sinner's head.Only in this way can he redeem his past sins and ascend to heaven after death.

He wondered if he would have time to take a shower before boarding the plane. Daniel Cooper's first stop was New Orleans.He stayed in the city for five days.Before he left New Orleans he knew everything he wanted to know about these men: Joe Romano, Antony Wusardy, Perry Pope, and Judge Henry Lawrence.Cooper read a transcript of the court transcript of Tracy Whitney's interrogation and sentencing.He visits Sheriff Miller and learns about the suicide of Tracy Whitney's mother.He talked to Otto Schmidt and found out how the Whitney family's company had been swallowed up.Daniel Cooper never took notes while conducting these investigations, but he was able to recount every conversation verbatim.He's ninety-nine percent sure that Tracy Whitney is the innocent victim, but ninety-nine percent isn't satisfactory for Daniel Cooper.He flew to Philadelphia to visit Clarence Desmond, the vice-president of the bank where Tracy Whitney had worked.Charles Steinborg III refused to meet with Cooper.

Now, when Cooper looked at the woman sitting across from him, he was 100% sure that she had nothing to do with the theft of the famous painting.He could go back and write the investigative report. "Romano set you up, Miss Whitney. Sooner or later, he'll pick a time to file a claim with the insurance company for the theft of a famous painting, and you'll come to him just then and provide him with a convenient excuse." .” Tracy felt her heart pounding. This man knew she was innocent.He may have a lot of evidence against Joe Romano, and he can defend her.He could talk to the warden or the governor about it and help her out of the fire.Tracy suddenly felt short of breath. "So you're going to do me a favor?"

Daniel Cooper was a little surprised. "A favor for you?" "Yeah, help me apply for a pardon, or..." "No." Tracy looked like she'd been slapped. "No? Why not? If you know I'm innocent, then you should..." How could these people not even understand this truth? "My mission is complete." Back in the hotel room, the first thing Cooper did was undress and step into the shower.He scrubbed his whole body carefully and rinsed it with a steaming shower for half an hour.He dried himself off, dressed, and sat down to write his report. Daniel Cooper paused to think for a moment, thinking of Tracy Whitney.Other men would think she was pretty, he thought.He wondered what fifteen years of imprisonment would do to her.

He had little interest in thinking about her, because her fate had nothing to do with him. Daniel Cooper signed the report.He hesitated to take another shower in time.