Chapter 11 Thursday, May 12

Just in May, Philadelphia was unnaturally hot, and the temperature suddenly rose to ninety degrees Fahrenheit.It looks like this weather will last for a few more days.The next week, people couldn't take it anymore. The warning of hot weather made them panic, some flocked to the beach, and some simply went to Maine or Lake Ontario to escape the summer heat. Shirley was lying on the lawn behind the house enjoying the sun.She was wearing a black swimsuit, with her legs crossed on a chair, a water glass and a phone beside her.The Oakley sunglasses on her nose, the trendiest frameless style available, were a gift from Penn.He said it was stolen, but Xueli would not believe his nonsense.

Payne walked through the living room, took two cans of beer from the refrigerator, and opened the screen door to the backyard. "What a total beauty in a swimsuit," he said with a mischievous grin. "Is that Inspector Payne? Or the Chippendale waiter who came to deliver the beer?" "Philadelphia Detective John Penn is at your service." Shirley pouted and made a face at him.He didn't ask how she knew he had a beer in his hand.Shirley's ears can hear any sound. Penn opened a can of cold beer and touched the back of her hand, and Shirley reached for it, resting the can against her forehead.

He opened another can of beer and put it on the floor, unbuttoned his shirt, and fanned it for a while. "My God," Payne said in pain, pretending to be in pain, "can you bear the heat? There is no air conditioner in the house, and you have to go out to bask in the sun." Xueli put the beer to her mouth and said cheerfully, "Penn, this is called enjoying life." "Yeah, it's good, enjoy it. It's going to be hotter. It's been like this in May, and I don't know how hot it's going to be in August. I think I'll lose five pounds this year." "

He grabbed a chair, sat across from Xueli, picked up the beer from the ground, his eyes moved around her abdomen, followed the line of her abdomen, and stopped on her plump breasts.He was silent for a moment, then said, "I had a murder case on Friday against a high-end dresser named Carmela. Have you heard about the case?" Shirley shook her head. "The deceased was a good-looking middle-aged woman. Her husband had two children before marrying her, and they are both in Alaska for a memorial tour." "Oh" Shirley responded. "The murderer entered the clothing store where she worked and shot her three times." Payne took a sip of his wine and continued, "No property was lost, there was no trace of rape, and we couldn't find a motive for the murder. Her husband is a serious man." A businessman. The pastor said that the couple were as devout believers as Thomas Aquilina and Mother Teresa. Then I called the Wildwood police to get in touch with her father. I didn’t expect her Her father had already fallen to his death on May 1st. It was later learned that her father had been involved with the underworld in the 1970s. One of their accomplices was Anthony Scarney."

Shirley had heard the name on the New York newscasts.She turned her head and faced Payne, frowning. Payne continued, "I called and asked, and the police who went to the scene said that his death was determined to be an accident. Said that in the nursing home, the old man was old and infirm, and said that he somehow walked through a door. Unlocked door, stumbled down the steps in the dark and died." "But you're a little skeptical, aren't you?" "Well," Payne sighed, "I can't believe it. Now I'll just have to wait for someone to come out and prove that there was a cause for his death. The autopsy report showed that his head injuries matched the impact of the fall. I hate it the most. There is a coincidence in the investigation of the murder case, but any possibility exists. In short, his death is still a problem for the police. Xueli, this case is not as simple as an accidental death. There must be something inside. I Some doubts have been discovered, as long as I do two more things, I can find out the truth."

"Am I one of those two things you have to do?" Shirley asked softly. He looked at her with an incomprehensible expression, swallowed the words, and quickly changed to another sentence, "I think you will help me." Despite the hot weather, Xueli is in a good mood.Recently she has been sleeping very well, sleeping more, and her skin looks very smooth.Payne had also seen her practice karate in the gym.Either basking in the sun on this damn hot day, or learning karate with a badass trainer.It seems that Xueli likes hot weather very much. If the weather is hotter, she probably won't mind.

"I remember you said, let's not mix friendship with business. This is the first time." "Xueli, I have taken on four cases this year. Four people died, four broken families, and I dare not face their families. Now this new case has come out. If I still can't find the suspect , it will become the fifth unsolved case." "When is the funeral?" "We unsealed the body this morning. It will take some time for distant relatives to get there though, so the funeral may be on Sunday. We can go there on Saturday night." He looked at Xueli's crossed legs, her calves were shaking rhythmically.A breeze blew and ruffled the hair around her ear.Payne knew she was thinking about Norwich again.She is afraid of making mistakes again.

It's hard to read Shirley's mind.She doesn't show her feelings much, even to those closest to her.He wondered what Xueli would think of between them when she thought of him.Of course he knew that Xueli liked him, but how much did she like him?When Xueli held his arm or took a walk together, their hands accidentally touched, Xueli was always so calm, completely regarded it as a normal contact between friends, without any other indication. At first, he felt that they should not only be friends, but also have other feelings.But neither of them went any further.Who knows what will happen next?

Sweat trickled down his temples and into his clothes.He took off his shirt, wrung it out and spread it on the back of the chair.Then walk towards the river bank. The river was fast, making white splashes as it passed the thirty-foot scarab-shaped steamer.The scarab's arched back resembled a missile about to be fired.Xueli should know his feelings for her, her intuition is so keen, she can perceive things as quickly as a spider catching insects, it is impossible not to know. The scarab receded across the river, and Penn's eyes followed it until it disappeared under the bridge.Penn knew the risks of asking Shirley for help, and the perils of treating her like a friend.This would give the court the impression that he was friends with the famous Shirley Moore, and he would never be able to testify in court again.And those stupid defense lawyers, they will accuse him of his behavior, "Inspector Payne, is it true that you are discussing the case with a woman who can communicate with the dead?"

"I object." "The objection is valid." "I'll rephrase the question just now, Your Honor..." This would make him a good-for-nothing detective, and it might put him back in uniform as a patrolman, or be transferred to the boring inquiry office for the rest of his career. There was another, more important reason why he didn't want Shirley to get involved in his work.He didn't want Xueli to think that he took good care of her because of her special ability.Xueli is someone he has always admired and loved.It has nothing to do with whether she has special abilities or not.

"You know, I'll promise you," Shirley said behind him. He turned and saw her wiggling her toes. "Thank you, Shirley, you are so kind." She puts the beer to her mouth.A drop of wine spilled over her collarbone and slid between her breasts.She wiped it with her fingertip and said, "John, I just want to make you happy." She turned her head to the water again, wagged her toes, and brought the finger that had just been wiped with beer to her mouth, and wiped the beer. The wine was sucked into the mouth. "So what do we do next?" Occasionally Shirley will work openly when assisting with high profile cases that get a lot of media attention, such as missing children, blackmail deadlines, etc.But most of her work is done in secret.Some private organizations and individuals also need to find clues from the dead.Usually, though, these people are looking for something valuable or significant.They don't want to attract rivals or be censored. The few police stations that trust Xueli are also unwilling to admit that they will recruit civilians to intervene in the investigation, especially civilians who claim to have supernatural powers to help solve the case. Shirley didn't care about that at all.She always believed that what she did should have a scientific explanation, not some so-called supernatural power.But she can also understand the difficulty and resistance faced by police and jurists to accept her work. "You really don't mind going to the funeral home?" "Haven't you been asking me to see new things lately, John?"