Chapter 8 Chapter VII

McCarthy was awakened by the loud "ding" of the microwave beep—the alarm clock went off again.McCarthy pulled the electronic alarm clock next to the bed, but when he pulled it, the power supply of the alarm clock was disconnected, and before his sleepy eyes could see the numbers on the screen, the screen had become completely black. Oh shit! Downstairs came the clatter of knives and forks on plates, and the noise of children.McCarthy put on his nightgown, wiped his face dryly, rubbed away the gum from the corners of his eyes, and combed his hair back with his fingers before walking down the stairs.

"Hey honey, you overslept and the kids are going out." While clearing the plates on the table, his wife Laura shouted to the door: "Children, come back and say goodbye to your father." "I'm going to miss the school bus, Mom; bye, Dad!" Little Stuart was gone, but Katerina came back and kissed McCarthy on the left cheek. "Goodbye, Mom! It's time for you to shave, Dad!" McCarthy straightened up and stroked his chin and cheeks. ——If I remember correctly, I just shaved yesterday—he thought uncertainly, but soon such insignificant things were left behind by him.

With another ding from the microwave, Laura finished his breakfast too.McCarthy approached his wife, who was holding a plate in her left hand and milk in her right, and put her arms around her waist. Laura kissed her husband while putting down the plate, and McCarthy squeezed his wife's ass.Laura let out an "ah" and almost spilled the milk in her hand. "Come on, the door is still open!" "You were awesome last night!" "What are you talking about?" The police building seemed to be a cursed place. As soon as McCarthy's car turned onto Jefferson Avenue where the police station was located, the good mood left to him by the tenderness last night disappeared completely—he was still driving his car. What the hell is going on in this city in a beat-up Ford Mercury with a still broken defroster and yet it's colder than it was a week ago?He has never been free, or not in the mood, to change to a Mercedes-Benz C300 that he has been longing for for a long time. His wife wants to change to a better community, a better house, and they want to send their children to private schools—but today , he and the director will have a troublesome meeting, which will be directly related to whether all this can be realized.

McCarthy glanced at the clock on the car. It was a quarter past nine—he forgot whether the clock on this car was behind by fifteen minutes or twenty-five minutes. In short, he was late. Reluctantly, he stepped on the accelerator. Just as he was about to slow down and turn into the gate of the police station, McCarthy saw the chief's Lexus driving towards him from a distance.So the moment the doorman opened the automatic gate, he slammed on the accelerator, turned his old Mercury roughly through the door, and headed straight for the fixed parking space newly allocated to him on the corner of the parking lot—a sign The one with "I.M (Ian McCarthy's initials) - Inspector" - go.Since last week, he doesn't have to worry about having to park his car on the street because the parking spaces are full for late arrivals—perhaps the only pleasant thing about going out this morning.

What McCarthy didn't expect was that the conversation started in the elevator in the parking lot. When the chief trotted all the way to the elevator and beckoned Ian to wait, he really wanted to pretend he didn't see it and took out his phone Pretending to be on the phone while allowing the elevator doors to close—but he pressed the "open door" button just in time. "Good morning, Ian!" The director seemed to be in a good mood, what happened? "Good morning, Chief," McCarthy responded. "You're late." The director raised his wrist and tapped the face of his watch with a smile.

"You know how bad traffic is in the morning." McCarthy shrugged. "It's not a good start." "What?" Mike suspected that he had heard it wrong-wasn't it a good start?What's the meaning?This should be said on Monday. "I said Ian, how long have you been driving your Mercury?" "Nearly twelve years."—why ask that?The old fox must have heard something, and McCarthy felt the hairs on the back of his neck start to stand on end. "Well, it's time to change the car." After hearing this, McCarthy felt uncomfortable all over, and he became more and more sure that something happened to the director.He was starting to regret taking the same elevator as the chief—should have let that door close.The director seemed to be implying something-was his contract reimbursed; did he ridicule him for taking a ride with the FBI; or did he know that he went to test drive a Mercedes three weeks ago?He had an ominous premonition about this.Yes, he's been wanting to buy a Mercedes for years - a wish that almost became reality when he was promoted to Chief Inspector-General of the Heist Squad, but it now appears that Coin Killer has put everything on the line. Ruined—if he went to buy a Mercedes-Benz now, it was more likely that he would be kicked out of his position as head of the robbery team before he could pay off the loan.

"Originally, this matter should be discussed in my office, but since there are only two of us here..." The director still smiled. "Old fox!" McCarthy cursed inwardly. "Congratulations, Inspector Ian McCarthy," the chief held out his hand, "you have been officially promoted to the supervisor of the Robbery and Homicide Unit!" McCarthy was stunned for half a minute - when he recovered, the director had already stepped out of the elevator, and the elevator door had closed in front of him. The elevator continued to run upwards, which gave Ian a short time to think.

——The scene just now is too familiar, it must have happened to him—although it feels very common to have experienced such a thing in a strange scene, but this——is too evil! The elevator reached the top floor and began to go down. McCarthy pressed the button marked "3". When McCarthy stepped out of the elevator on the third floor, he met old Malcolm—his first partner on the street tour, and also the director's brother-in-law—and Malcolm greeted him with a smile and gave him a warm welcome. hug. "Congratulations, partner!" Looking at the dazed McCarthy, Malcolm held his hand tightly, shaking it constantly:

"Don't you know, old man? You've been promoted to Chief Inspector of the Homicide Squad! It will be announced this afternoon, but you know, Mary (the Chief's wife, Malcolm's sister) is a talkative woman , so this police station has no secrets from me!" "Thanks!" McCarthy tried to make himself laugh, he didn't look surprised or pleased, he felt as if he was in a "replay" of the past - Dejavu - he remembered the French word, but which Will Dejavu be so realistic and last so long?he does not know. People from the entire big office of the robbery team began to gather here. With fake smiles on their faces, they came up to shake his hand and congratulate him on being promoted to the chief inspector, while the crowd standing in the distance were talking in low voices.Repeating thank you, thank you, thank you very much mechanically, McCarthy walked through the crowd towards the desk of Miss Anne, the executive secretary.

Annie stood up and gave the new immediate boss a most cordial smile: "Good morning, sir, congratulations, today is your lucky day!" "What's the date today?" "What?" Annie didn't expect to get such a question at all, and she thought she had heard it wrong. "What's the date today, Miss Anne?" McCarthy repeated his question. "December 3rd, sir—it's not April Fool's Day!" She had expected a friendly "Thank you for the reminder, Miss Anne," or at least a good laugh—as a reward for her sense of humor—from the new supervisor.However, what was waiting was McCarthy's unbelievable expression and a soft voice:

"my God!"