Chapter 3 Patient and Killer

Autumn night fell quickly that night, like a black fog over the freshly plowed fields and the ribbon of interstate that passed through the farmhouse. In the dark place in front of the farmhouse, a man's figure appeared. The man was tall, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, a high nose and a wide mouth, moving quietly like a silent shadow.He stopped near the farmhouse, looked at a small light on the front door, and there were other lights on in the houses behind the curtains, and shook his head as if debating whether to knock on the front door or the back door. Now he strode forward in silent strides.As he approached the front door, he heard a man's voice inside the house.He stopped in the yellow light from the small light bulb and listened intently.He recognized the voice of a radio or television announcer.

"...the police are doing all they can to find a patient who escaped from the State Psychiatric Hospital this afternoon after killing a staff member of the hospital. We repeat our previous warning that although the patient appears effeminate and harmless, the patient When it strikes, it does damage.... We will have more on this later. An eyewitness said that a blonde woman once robbed a remote gas station, and after this important news..." He waited until the commercial break before knocking on the door.The announcer's animated voice was cut off immediately, and now there were only light footsteps in the room, then suddenly stopped.

While he knew the screen door was unlocked when he knocked, he knew the wooden door inside was locked.He surmised that the master was making a preliminary inspection of him through the lookout hole in the door, and he looked around nonchalantly, then down at his feet.At this time, he saw a blue doormat in front of the door, but there was a white "Merdy" on it. two words.No one opened the door.He waited for a while, and then patiently knocked on the door. "Is anyone home?" he said. "I'm Bean, a new worker at Mike's. Mr. Mike sent me here to borrow some tools." He heard soft footsteps again, and a moment later, the inner door opened, A petite woman with dark hair peers out. "Mrs. Murdy?" he asked through the screen door. "what are you going to do?"

"Sorry to bother you at this time, I want to borrow a set with all the screwdrivers, Mr. Mike said, and your husband will know which set." He saw Mrs. Murdy frowning, showing an unhappy expression, and at the same time Brush a lock of hair from his cheek. "Oh, I do not know." "I don't mind your misgivings, because you've never seen me before. I just started working today, but if you'd ask Mr. Murdy to talk to me, he'd understand which set it was. " "My husband—he's not at home now," said Mrs. Murray. Bean rubbed his chin, "Oh, maybe I should wait for him to come back. Mr. Mike took his wife and children to the movies, so he sent me here. He needs to use that set early tomorrow morning." Bean nodded seriously , "I'd better wait for your husband to come back, is he coming home soon?"

"No!" said Mrs. Murray quickly, and then smiled again. "I mean, you'd better come back tomorrow morning, and he'll be home then," saying, intending to close the door and thank the guests. "Madam, can I trouble you to give me a glass of water before I leave, the distance from Mr. Mike's house is not too short." "Of course, I'll get it for you." As soon as she turned and went in, Bean followed inside without making a sound, slipping quietly through the front living room.When she took the water and turned from the sink, he was standing in the kitchen doorway.

She was startled, her eyes widened in fright, and the water in the glass splashed a little, and she reprimanded angrily, "No one invited you in." "Please don't be angry, ma'am, I will not hurt you." "You Scared me to death, how could you follow me like that?" "I know," Bean nodded, trying to brighten and brighten his ugly face with a smile. "I know what you want to say. I'm thick, ugly, and not smart. If you want to say it, go ahead and say it. I've heard it many times before." "I didn't mean that, Mr. Bean, really, I didn't mean to hurt you, I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking about your appearance. This is your water, please leave after drinking it." He drank the water quickly , as if I haven't drank water for a long time, I drank it all in one gulp.She reached out for the teacup, but he didn't hand it back to her. "You know," he said, "you shouldn't be home alone on a night like this." "I'm fine, now, please go away."

"I heard news reports that today a patient escaped from the "mental hospital" not far from here, and now he may come directly here. Those people are sometimes scary when they find you alone in the house , what do you think they would do?" "I'm sure I can take care of myself, thank you. Now please leave and let me lock all the doors and I'll be fine." Bean shook his head, shook his big head. "You don't understand, Mrs. Murdy, that when such people make up their minds to do something, or go anywhere, no door or window can stop them. They can come in and out like monkeys;

When they're on fire, they're so powerful, they can break, tear or kill anything they see, but they look like you and me.Most people don't know that you can see a sick person walking towards you on the street and you won't think of anything. " Bean grinned, trying to reassure her. "What I want to tell you is that this person who escaped from the mental hospital today may walk directly to your door, and you may let him in because he doesn't look vicious on the outside, or has crazy eyes. You may Think, it's just a car breaking down, needing help, or wanting to borrow a phone, or anyone with similar excuses, you don't suspect at all. However, seeing that your husband is not at home and you are alone in the house, he may turn against you, you They may be killed, they are difficult to guess."

Mrs. Murdy stared at him, her face pale, and after a while she said, "You seem to know a lot about—about the people in the asylum." "I've been there for two years. Startled, she took two steps back, bumped into the sink, and said, "Oh, no!" Bean heard the panic in her voice, and quickly said, "Not a patient, ma'am, I'm a gardener." , they’re called administrators, and I quit my job there about three years ago.” She took a deep breath and said, “You almost scared the hell out of me.” Bean grinned widely. "You know, that's exactly what I want to tell you, because I don't look good, you are afraid that I am a patient who escaped from the mental hospital today, tell you, people can't judge by appearance, there, I saw a lot of women's appearance and You are the same, sweet, and you don't look like you want to hurt anyone at all."

"Yes," she said, "I can imagine, but I don't think it's necessary for you to stay here and wait for me, sir. I assure you, Mr. Bean, I won't let any strangers into the room. Take it easy. gone." "That's the way it is, ma'am. When you're alone at home, don't let anyone into your room. You'd better not talk to strangers near your door. I've talked to them many times in asylums. If you don't know more, what they tell you, you will swear that what they say is absolutely true. It can also be said that they are all excellent actors."

"Oh, yes, please leave. As soon as you leave, I will bolt the door and close every window. Mr. Bean, I promise you that I will not talk to any strangers." She held out her hand again Asked for a water glass, this time he gave it to her. As she put the water glass in the sink, Bean said, "Thank you, ma'am, for being patient with me. Many people, especially the ladies, can't bear to see me. Whenever I want to talk to them, they don't To run away is to scream for help. I don't have a chance to talk to the ladies. When I come to the kitchen with you, all I want to do is talk, you will understand, just stand here and talk to you How nice!" Mrs. Murray smiled. "Oh, you're welcome to come back anytime." When there was an urgent knock at the front door, he saw her freeze in horror, her eyes showing panic.Suddenly, she began to shake her head from side to side, and like a beast in a trap looking for escape, her mouth opened, and there was a scream.Bis rushed forward, covering most of her face with a pair of giant palms. Her hands clung desperately to the giant palm, trying to break free, but Bean pushed her hard against the refrigerator, holding her against her body so that she couldn't move.For a moment, he listened to the knock on the door again.Satisfied with where they were standing, no one outside could see them through the screen door, Bean said in a voice above a whisper, "Mrs. Murdy, I can't make you scream, they'll have the wrong idea that I'm hurting You, then, Mr. Mac will fire me. So you know, I did this to you. It may be a neighbor visiting, and as soon as you calm down, I will let you open the door." He felt the mouth under the palm want to speak, and she was twisting hard, trying to break free. "Don't be like that, Mrs. Murdy, just relax as we did when we were chatting, maybe a friend is visiting and you're so upset I can't ask you to open the door. If it's an acquaintance then it'll be obvious we're just chatting, Just a visit; if it's a stranger, don't worry, I'll take care of it. I'll watch over them and not let them hurt you." His hands slowly moved away from her face, and then grabbed her arm.Gently pushing her forward again, the two walked out of the kitchen together and approached the front living room. Then he stopped and she continued walking.Through the screen door he could see the figure of a slender, blond woman.Mrs. Murdy asked in horror, "Who is that?" "My car broke down and I need help. I got a flat tire on the road." "Come in!" Bean stood silent, watching the woman as she came in. She was young, wearing a black sweater, long trousers, and a military-style trench coat, stained and wrinkled, unbuttoned in front. , appearing large and ill-fitting. girl smiles. "My car broke down about a quarter of a mile from here, and believe it or not, I don't know how to change a tire." "This is my husband," Mrs. Murray introduced. "Perhaps he can change it for you." Bean froze for a moment when he heard that, and then realized that she was really smart, because this girl was a stranger, and she wanted him to deal with it."That's great," the girl said, and she smiled at Bean, "You're so cute." "Of course he's very sweet," said Mrs. Murray. Bean blushed when she called him cute, but he could tell she meant something. They never thought he was cute.He suppressed the anger in his voice and said: "You women are all the same. When you ask a man to do some heavy work, you smile and talk nicely to the man; but when an ugly person like me wants to talk to you You scare away when you talk just for the purpose of having a friendly chat." He said angrily, "Miss, you can get someone to change that tire for you." The girl holds a revolver in her right hand as it emerges from her coat pocket. She pointed to Bean's chest. "Okay, man, if you feel that way, I can't help it. Now, we're going to use your car, and your wife is going with me." She took a step back, and motioned them forward with the pistol again. "Let's go!" "Oh! Don't do that!" whispered Mrs. Murray. Bean suddenly remembered the newscaster's comment about the blonde woman and the gas station robbery.Now looking at the woman and the gun she was holding, he finally understood that the person in front of him was the female robber. "Go!" said the blond woman. "Come on, bloody thing." Anger twisted Bean's face into an ugly mask. He kept a straight face and walked towards the front door, but suddenly, he swung his arm like a branch and hit the woman's gun-holding wrist. The pistol fell to the ground, slid across the floor, and flew to the corner of the wall. Bean charged at her and grabbed her, and she fought back with her feet and fingernails before he punched her on the jaw.She fell to the floor, and as he moved away from the woman, gunshots sounded behind him, and plaster from the wall splattered on his head.Bean roared angrily and rushed across the room.Mrs. Murdy had picked up the gun earlier, fired once, and was about to fire again when he charged at her. He bumped her hard, knocked her back, and with that bump he could reach out and catch her before she fell to the ground.She screamed and resisted violently, trying to break free of his grasp so she could shoot.Bean knocked the gun out of her hand, then slashed the back of her neck, momentarily knocking her unconscious, and she fell limply to the floor. Bean's face twisted, his mouth opened and he couldn't stop panting.He stood in the middle of the room and picked up the pistol before looking at the two women.Then he shook his head, thinking that some women, like the blond woman, who she would never understand, made him very angry when he mentioned his appearance. He beat her so hard that she would be unconscious for a while before going back to call the police. Now it was Mrs. Murdy who was his concern, and he knew from the first that she would panic in such a situation.It was a good thing that he stayed and didn't leave immediately.In sympathy for the blond woman, she may have been kidnapped or killed.Now, he has to take care of her, poor thing? He turned around and picked her up gently. He was going to carry her into the bedroom, which is the best place. He was going to put her on the bed and put a cold towel on her to wake her up; Go to the first door, open to the bathroom. The next door was another room, pitch black, and Bean fumbled to turn on the light and walked in. He gasped and stared at the woman on the bed.She was a red-haired woman who died with a knife stuck in her chest. Bean frowned and shook his head, trying to understand what was going on in front of him.He numbly looked away from the person on the bed, and then wandered back. He saw a colorful wedding photo on the dressing table, with a flower on the man's dress, but Bean's eyes fell on the bride in the white wedding dress.She had fiery red hair and was the same person who lay in the bed, now dead. Bean looked at the woman in his arms. Why?She looked nothing like she had escaped from a mental institution.