Chapter 286: Detective Chuck: Young Sheldon is the Smart One!
"Stay in the car."
Chuck stopped at a safe distance, gave Beth Harmon the order, and got out, heading toward the disabled car parked on the side of the road.
Inside the disabled car.
David and Linda were in a panic.
If Chuck hadn't calculated and fired with perfect accuracy, the car would have flipped long ago. It had only slowed down quickly and stopped safely, so the people inside weren't injured in the crash.
However, the continuous gunshots and the car's violent shaking still made them—who had only heard about such things but never experienced them—extremely flustered.
"Don't panic!"
The calmest one was naturally Esther. Her face grim, she looked at Chuck slowly approaching through the car window, drew her pistol, pressed it against Linda's waist, and ordered, "You two get out and stand in front of me!"
"What?"
"Me too?"
Linda and David both exclaimed in surprise.
"Hurry up!"
Seeing how cowardly they were, Esther's eyes turned cold, and she raised her hand and fired a shot outside to show she wasn't joking.
"Ah!"
Linda exclaimed. "I'll do it, I'll do it!"
"Babe, don't get angry."
David, also humbled by Esther's ruthless decisiveness, said.
"Don't be afraid, he won't kill you."
Esther raised her gun again, half-reassuring and half-threatening.
Linda and David exchanged a glance, their expressions showing relief, and began to get out of the car.
"Take your time!"
Esther followed Linda closely, and as Linda was about to exit the car, she pressed the gun against her waist again and began making demands.
"Babe, you said he wouldn't dare shoot, so what are you worried about?"
David, who had already gotten out, glanced back at Chuck, who had holstered his weapon, and asked, feeling much more relaxed.
"Idiot! Don't you know his marksmanship?"
Esther clung tightly to Linda's back, squirming out of the car to block Chuck's line of sight. She yelled at David, "He could easily shoot the gun out of my hand without killing me! I won't give him that chance!"
David, embarrassed by her outburst, could only listen silently. He went to Linda's side and joined her in shielding Esther from Chuck.
At this moment, Chuck was getting closer and closer.
"Stop right there!"
Esther shouted.
Chuck didn't stop.
"Take one more step and I'll kill her!"
Esther fired a warning shot into the air.
Chuck stopped. "Releasing Linda, throwing away your weapon, and surrendering is your best move."
"That's what you want me to do, but not my best move."
Esther smiled, then her smile turned vicious. "Now, follow my orders—throw away your gun, or I'll kill her right in front of you!"
Chuck calmly watched them, making no move.
"Chuck!"
Linda, seeing Chuck like this, pleaded desperately.
"This is America,"
Chuck said expressionlessly.
"I know."
Esther, hiding behind Linda, couldn't help but smile slightly.
"Not the Soviet Union!"
Chuck added.
"Of course I know!"
Esther frowned, completely baffled by Chuck's meaning. Seeing that Chuck made no move, she could only offer another threatening warning.
"If this were the Soviet Union, I wouldn't even meet you, or if I did, I would either fight you or surrender immediately.
But this is America.
You don't just shoot hostages here."
"…"
Linda and David were completely taken aback by this logic, their eyes gleaming with an 'I'm so glad to be American' look.
If this happened in the Soviet Union, they, the hostages, would probably be the first ones killed.
"I know you're from Russia,"
Chuck said, glancing at Esther, who showed no sign of weakness.
"You've investigated me so thoroughly in such a short time?"
A shadow of unease flashed in Esther's eyes as she hid behind Linda, but she smiled and said, "Then you should know even better what choice I'll make!"
As a warrior nation, there is only death in battle, no surrender!
"I know,"
Chuck nodded. "Just like when the Soviet Union fell and you were smuggled into America with the refugees, your thinking might still be stuck in the USSR.
But this is America!
Let me give you some basic facts about America.
Tens of thousands of people die from gunshot wounds in America every year.
The leading cause of death for children is gun violence.
The Soviet Union was defeated by America.
Maybe the USSR thought they were a warrior nation, but America is the real war machine.
Foreign and domestic, regardless of age.
Now I'll say it again: throw away your pistol, raise your hands and surrender, because this is not the Soviet Union, but America!"
"..."
Esther, an orphan from the Soviet Union, fell silent.
In the past, she always thought she was a true member of the warrior nation, and that saying such things would add a certain intimidation factor.
Because it was internationally recognized!
But she never expected that one day she would be the one intimidated.
Ironically, after listening to Chuck's explanation, she actually found it quite reasonable... This was absolutely ridiculous!
"No!"
Esther shook her head violently, trying to shake off this terrible cognitive disruption, her eyes hardening again. "I'll give you two choices: either you drop your gun, or you drive that car over here and let us leave. Otherwise, I'll shoot Linda in the leg right now. I'll count to three. One!"
"Chuck!"
Linda was practically wetting herself with fear, staring at Chuck in desperation.
"Two!"
Esther counted to two, and seeing that Chuck still didn't react, she grew anxious.
If Chuck really didn't care about Linda's life or death, she might really be finished today.
She never wanted to be caught again!
Absolutely not!
Chuck just stared at them expressionlessly.
In the United States, during a standoff between police and criminals, the police would never give in to such absurd demands from criminals.
Asking them to lay down their weapons and transfer their safety to the criminals, just for the safety of a hostage?
Don't be ridiculous!
Even in Hollywood action movies, they wouldn't dare show something like that; it's always the cops hiding behind squad cars, guns drawn.
Only a protagonist with plot armor would dare to do that.
Chuck wasn't a cop.
He didn't even need to adhere to this basic ethical standard for law enforcement, which didn't exist in the US but did exist worldwide.
Besides, the hostage was Linda; to him, she was nobody.
He wouldn't make such a compromise for her.
The scene suddenly fell silent.
Esther's expected "three" remained unspoken.
Chuck kindly reminded her, "Two point one, two point two!"
"You really think I won't shoot?"
Esther snapped.
"If you shoot, you'll die the moment she falls,"
Chuck bluntly warned.
"David, hold her up!"
Esther, startled, realized she'd forgotten this and quickly called out to David.
"Chuck, let us go! I don't need you to save me!"
Linda was so frightened she could barely stand.
"No,"
Chuck refused. "She's a suspect in the bombing; I can't let her go."
Just then, a black SUV sped up and stopped a short distance away. A man got out, adopting a standard police standoff stance, hiding behind the car, pointing a gun at them and shouting, "I'm a police officer! Put down your weapon and raise your hands!"
Then...
he opened fire!
Bang!
Bang!
Bang! Bang!
Four gunshots rang out!
Beth's pupils constricted. Before her eyes, the man claiming to be a police officer fired directly at Chuck.
In that instant, Esther, who had been hiding behind Linda, stepped out from behind her, aimed her gun at Chuck, and fired as well.
Everything seemed to move in slow motion; in her eyes, two bullets flew toward Chuck from opposite directions.
"Chuck!"
she tried to scream a warning, but no sound came out.
Chuck, however, had already turned, his pistol seemingly materializing in his hand. He fired quick shots front and back, then calmly glanced at her.
Amidst the echoing gunshots,
Beth's scream finally escaped her lips.
Chuck stood unharmed, while the man claiming to be a police officer behind him, and Esther who had stepped out from behind Linda to shoot, both clutched their hands, their faces contorted in pain.
Their guns had flown from their hands and clattered to the ground.
"Kill him! Kill him now!"
Esther screamed in terror as Chuck approached step by step.
David snapped out of his daze and ran away alone.
The cop, however, endured the throbbing pain in his hand and lunged for the pistol on the ground.
Then another shot rang out.
The pistol was hit again, sliding even further from the impact.
"Go grab Beth!"
Esther screamed again.
The cop, clearly one of her accomplices, hesitated, cowering behind the squad car, not daring to act immediately.
"He wouldn't dare kill you! Otherwise, he would've shot to kill instead of just disarming you! Hurry!"
Esther continued to scream and command. "If I get caught, you're finished too! Think about all those videos!"
Upon hearing this, the man's face changed drastically, his eyes hardening, and he was about to rush toward Beth.
Another shot rang out.
The bullet landed right in front of the man, causing him to instinctively stop again.
"You don't need to be afraid of her."
Chuck walked calmly toward Esther, his back to the cop, and said, "She's not a child. Your videos with her are just normal, consensual adult videos; releasing them won't affect you at all."
"What?"
Everyone was stunned.
"She's not?"
the man instinctively asked.
"No,"
Chuck said. "She just has a rare pituitary disorder that causes her to be short in stature and her appearance to remain childlike. She's not an actual child."
"Is that true?"
The man's expression immediately relaxed. "What proof do you have?"
"Although she looks like a child, the texture of her skin is completely different from the collagen-rich skin of an actual child,"
Chuck said calmly. "Her teeth, her eyes, and most importantly, if she were truly the age she appears, then she would be a prodigy to have manipulated all of you adults and even obtained explosives for a remote detonation.
But clearly, she isn't!
Because a prodigy who knows me well enough not to point a gun at me, but to hide behind hostages, would never make the simplistic mistake of using explosions or guns against me.
She would definitely choose Sheldon's approach.
Because if she were genius-level, with a sharp enough IQ, she'd know that Sheldon is the truly smart one!"
Yes.
Sheldon's approach is that no matter how many times Chuck makes him cry, how many times he wants to go villain mode, he subconsciously chooses the most correct course of action: back down!
As for the art of explosives, young Sheldon—theoretically capable of building nuclear devices—is far superior to Esther.
Even young Sheldon didn't dare to turn villain and confront him; he didn't think Esther was smarter than young Sheldon.
Since it wasn't due to exceptional intelligence that she could achieve this at such a young age, she must have followed the path of an ordinary person, accumulating experience step by step over time.
Those rare diseases, unheard of and unthinkable to ordinary people, are just basic knowledge for a detective. Noticing the inconsistencies and making a few connections allows him to understand everything.
"Sheldon is indeed very smart!"
Beth had recovered and, seeing Chuck in complete control, recalled her impression of young Sheldon and couldn't help but say this.
"Don't say that to him,"
Chuck turned to Beth.
"Why?"
Beth was taken aback.
"I can say it, but you'd better not say it like that,"
Chuck said bluntly. "In his mind, his IQ minus 60 is barely considered smart! Saying he's smart isn't a compliment to him."
"..."
Beth was speechless.
She now finally understood how badly Sheldon had suffered at Chuck's hands; even when he wasn't around, he was still getting thoroughly roasted.
"Don't listen to him!"
Esther shouted in impotent rage as Chuck drew closer, his figure now looming over her. "You've already shot at him! He's so petty, he won't let you get away with this! Grab Beth, threaten him, and we can escape together!"
Upon hearing this, the man who had initially tried to cover himself with "I didn't intentionally shoot you, it was just my duty as a police officer, an instinctive reaction to mag-dump. You're a police consultant, you should know about this standard training response," immediately changed his expression, jumped back into his car, and went to grab another gun.
Indeed!
Even though he had actually shot at Chuck, whether he hit or not, he could have easily explained it away by saying he didn't know Chuck was playing hero. At most he'd just get administrative leave.
He had indeed been blackmailed by Esther, constantly monitoring Chuck's movements and keeping tabs on her. He had just received the signal from Esther and had deliberately driven over, pretending ignorance, intending to mag-dump and "play hero," joining Esther in a pincer attack on the seemingly invincible Chuck.
Now, enlightened by Chuck, he realized Esther was indeed different from ordinary little girls, and trusting Chuck's judgment, he felt relieved.
Because if it was true, Esther's blackmail was useless.
He even considered taking the opportunity to eliminate Esther.
But when Esther said "Chuck is petty," he—having heard the rumors from his colleagues at the precinct—suddenly realized the truth and abandoned all those naive thoughts.
No doubt about it!
He had to fight Chuck to the death!
Because he had just fired shots directly at Chuck's head; with the detective's perception, it was impossible for him not to notice.
And given Chuck's notorious pettiness, this assassination attempt had definitely crossed the line.
The issue was no longer about Esther or the hostage Linda.
It was that he had seriously offended the petty and vindictive Detective Chuck!
(End of Chapter)
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