12: Chapter 12 Sheriff John Brown

Madison stared at Shaun for a long while before lying right back down.

She gave a long stretch, then rolled onto her side, propping her head up with one hand as she continued to gaze at him.

Then she asked, "Shaun, do you remember what I said last night?"

Shaun thought for a moment. "Which part?"

"That part... about you being the most interesting person I've ever met."

"I remember."

Madison said, "I still feel that way. And I think you might be even more interesting than I thought."

Shaun looked at her, unsure of how to respond.

Madison didn't expect him to.

She reached out and poked his chest.

"Get up, I'm hungry. Buy me breakfast."

Shaun checked the time; it was 7:30 AM.

He hadn't gone back to his own apartment last night.

He still had to work today.

But breakfast wouldn't take much time, so he nodded in agreement.

Madison rolled out of bed, grabbed a robe to throw on, and walked over to the window to pull open the curtains.

Sunlight flooded in, brightening the entire room.

Shaun sat up, squinting as his eyes adjusted to the light.

Madison stood before the window, silhouetted against the light, looking back at him.

That scene, how should I put it... was a bit like a shot from a movie.

"Shaun," she said suddenly.

"Yeah?"

"Don't read too much into last night."

To be honest, Shaun hadn't been thinking much of it, but Madison saying that forced him to think a little more.

"I'm not the kind of little girl who gets all dramatic over a romance," Madison's tone was casual. "You don't need to feel any pressure. We're just two people who found each other interesting and spent a night together."

"Understand?"

Those words made Shaun breathe a sigh of relief.

He recalled briefly that he seemed to have put in a bit too much effort last night.

He was actually afraid this mean-spirited witch would cling to him.

After all, Madison's temper really wasn't great, and he didn't want to be truly tied down to her.

However, his reaction now had to be carefully measured.

He couldn't agree too quickly.

But he couldn't not agree, lest she cling to him.

So, after considering for exactly three seconds, he said, "Understood."

Madison nodded upon hearing this and turned to walk out.

It seemed... she no longer intended to have breakfast.

At the doorway, she stopped again and said without looking back, "However, if you want a next time, I wouldn't be against it."

Then she left.

Shaun stared blankly at the closed door for a moment.

In his mind, the golden book flipped another page.

[Madison Montgomery Favorability: 75 -> 78]

[Note: She says 'don't read too much into it.' But according to data analysis, people who say such things have often already thought a lot about it themselves.]

Fine!

This system of his could even analyze human hearts.

But Shaun ignored the system's analysis and immediately closed the book.

...

Shaun didn't insist on taking Madison back to the manor.

At 8:30 AM, he left Madison's apartment and hailed a cab by the roadside.

The taxi driver was a chatterbox, talking all the way from the French Quarter to the entrance of the Second Precinct. Shaun hummed and hawed in response, his mind filled with the numbers from the golden book.

Favorability: 78.

Why hadn't a new skill awakened with such high favorability?

Could it be that it has nothing to do with favorability?

While lost in thought, Shaun pushed open the precinct's glass doors, and the familiar scent of coffee mixed with sweat wafted over him.

Walking toward his office, he had just rounded the corner of the hallway when he saw his colleague, Gray, standing there with a look of schadenfreude.

Seeing him, Gray grinned and said, "Yo, Shaun, you finally made it."

A sense of foreboding rose in Shaun's heart. "What's wrong?"

"The Captain is looking for you." Gray jerked his chin toward the office. "He's been here since early morning, asking three times if Shaun had arrived. What did you mess up lately?"

Shaun thought about it.

He had messed up quite a bit lately.

But the Captain shouldn't know.

"I didn't do anything," he said, tossing his backpack onto his workstation. "I'll head over now."

The Captain's office was at the end of the hallway, behind a semi-transparent frosted glass door with a nameplate that read "Captain John Brown."

Shaun knocked on the door.

"Come in."

Shaun pushed the door open and entered.

Sheriff Brown was a black man in his fifties with salt-and-pepper hair and an expression that permanently said, "I've seen it all."

He sat behind his desk holding a file. Seeing Shaun enter, he tilted his chin to gesture for him to sit down.

He then asked with a hint of interrogation, "Shaun, where were you last night?"

Shaun's heart skipped a beat.

Could the Captain really know about his date with the witch last night?"

But even though his heart was pounding, Shaun maintained a calm exterior and replied, "At home."

Brown stared at him for three seconds, a look that reminded Shaun of Fiona.

It wasn't dangerous; it was that "you think you can fool me" kind of scrutiny.

"At home," Brown repeated. "Alone?"

Shaun didn't say anything.

After all, going on a date wasn't a crime.

Sure enough, Brown didn't press the matter. He just hummed and pushed the file forward. "Fine, I won't ask you about that. Look at this."

Shaun took the file and opened it.

The first page was a crime scene photo.

A corpse.

A white male, around forty years old, wearing an expensive suit, lying in an alleyway.

The deceased's posture was strange—not a natural fall, but posed in a certain way: hands folded over his chest, legs together, as if performing some kind of ritual?

Shaun frowned.

He continued flipping through.

The second page was the scene investigation report.

The third page was the deceased's identification information.

The fourth page...

Shaun's hand stopped.

On the fourth page was an ID photo. The deceased was in uniform, with a badge pinned to his chest.

A cop!

The deceased was a police officer!

"Joseph White," Brown's voice came from across the desk. "Fifth Precinct, fifteen years on the force. He was found dead last night in an alley in the French Quarter."

"Cause of death, preliminary judgment is asphyxiation, but not by strangulation or choking. No external injuries, no signs of struggle, just... dead."

!!

Brown paused, staring at Shaun.

"Like he was just asleep."

Shaun looked up.

His back began to feel cold.

No external injuries, no signs of struggle, just dead.

This method of death immediately made him think of a witch's killing.

But Shaun continued to play dumb and asked, "Why are you showing me this?"

Brown threw a document in front of him. "Because the place he responded to yesterday was the same one you went to yesterday afternoon."

Shaun opened the document.

It read...

Reporter: Neighbor of Robichaux Manor

Responding Officer: Joseph White (Fifth Precinct)

Time: Last night, 19:30

Reason: Reported unusual noises inside the manor

Shaun's breath hitched.

7:30 last night.

That was when he was having dinner with Madison.

Officer White went to Robichaux Manor.

And then he died.

But... why did he go alone?