Chapter 303: Detective Chuck , You Can't Handle It!
The naturally impulsive Chief Randy Tisher, acting on his hunch, immediately rushed into the bathroom to test his brilliant theory.
He quickly emerged, somewhat embarrassed, and said to Chuck, "Chuck, why don't you take a look..."
"No need,"
Chuck refused.
"Why not?"
Randy was taken aback. "I can't see any evidence, but you can."
"No rush, leave it to your forensic team."
Chuck looked at him. "And in the future, spend less time with Dr. House."
"Okay."
Randy nodded in agreement, still somewhat puzzled. "Why avoid Dr. House? I think he's pretty smart and has insightful takes on a lot of things."
"Get all the staff working here tonight."
Chuck ignored Randy and directly ordered the officers.
"Yes, sir."
The officers immediately complied and went to do so.
Because compared to their eccentric chief, Chuck was more like what a normal chief should be.
Soon, all the nursing home staff were assembled.
Caregivers and security guards were all present.
"Is everyone here?"
Chuck asked.
"Yes,"
a lead caregiver replied.
"Is this the usual shift roster?"
Chuck looked around at everyone.
"No, not exactly,"
the lead caregiver explained. "Usually, only a handful work the night shift. Everyone's here today because tonight is Miles' birthday. You all know he's the oldest person in the world.
After today, the Guinness World Record will be broken again—still by him. There are reporters waiting outside to cover this milestone, so we've all stayed to volunteer for overtime."
"You have to badge in and out, right?"
Chuck asked.
"Yes,"
the lead caregiver nodded. "Everyone has to swipe their card to clock in."
"Bring me the log,"
Chuck ordered.
The lead caregiver agreed and went to retrieve it.
"Chuck, do you suspect it's an inside job?"
Randy, having finally moved past his frustration about why he couldn't hang out with Dr. House, asked while the lead caregiver went to get the sign-in log.
"Yes."
Chuck nodded. "You need to badge in and out, and there are dozens of reporters outside. If anything unusual happened, it would've been photographed already. Have someone collect the video footage from the reporters outside; they might have captured the killer's appearance."
"Got it!"
Randy immediately agreed and ordered someone to go.
"But why?"
After giving the order, Randy asked the question that had been bothering him most.
"Figuring out the motive is your job."
Chuck said seriously.
"Are you messing with me?"
Although Randy was naturally a bit naive, after Chuck rejected his first theory about the motive, he'd become somewhat aware of Chuck's attitude.
"Can't you figure it out?"
Chuck asked back.
"Of course I can figure it out!"
Seeing this, the naturally naive Randy couldn't possibly admit he couldn't figure it out. He quickly started racking his brain to think about the motive. Just as Chuck took the sign-in log from the head caregiver, his eyes suddenly lit up: "I've got it!"
"What've you got, Chief?"
an officer asked curiously.
"I know the motive!"
Randy, seemingly oblivious, laughed. "It must be this! You think the victim was a Guinness World Record holder, the oldest person alive? Then the second oldest person is definitely a suspect. It's very likely he had the victim killed."
The more he talked, the more convinced he became of his theory, and he excitedly explained further, "I saw a news story from five years ago. The mayor invited the victim to a school groundbreaking ceremony.
He buried a book written by the victim and some letters from others in a time capsule. At the time, the victim proudly said he had won, though he didn't know what he had won."
"Chief, the victim was 115 years old. His own son can't even walk anymore, let alone the second oldest person right after him,"
the officer reminded him helplessly. "That person probably can't even move around normally, let alone kill someone without anyone noticing."
"I didn't say he did it himself,"
Randy paused, then quickly tried to save face. "I only said it's a very likely motive. He could've easily hired someone to do the killing."
"Chief, you're absolutely right."
The officer, prompted by glances from the other officers, quickly added, "I was being too narrow-minded."
"Chuck, what do you think?"
Randy nodded with satisfaction, then looked at Chuck expectantly.
"Possibly."
Chuck nodded as he flipped through the sign-in log, then pointed to an entry: "This person is the accomplice."
"David?"
The head caregiver exclaimed in surprise, "Impossible! He's not that kind of person."
"Who is he?"
Randy asked seriously.
"He's a security guard at the nursing home, always a really nice guy, likes to rescue stray animals, very compassionate—he couldn't be the murderer!"
the head caregiver explained.
"Did he come in today?"
Chuck asked.
"He probably did."
"I don't think I saw him."
"Tonight was crazy busy, I didn't notice."
The staff looked at each other, discussing amongst themselves, all somewhat uncertain.
"Then who signed him in?"
Chuck pointed to the sign-in log, surveying the crowd: "Although someone tried to forge the handwriting, it's still noticeably different from his actual signature."
At this point, he put down the log and said to the head caregiver, "I need this security guard's home address."
After the head caregiver provided it, Chuck said to Randy, "Let's go."
"Right!"
Randy immediately agreed, headed out, and drove to the security guard's house.
When they arrived at the door, they found it unlocked and it opened with a push. Randy immediately drew his weapon, positioned himself in front of Chuck, and entered using standard tactical protocol.
"Whoa!"
Then his yell rang out.
When Chuck entered, he saw Randy collapsed on the floor, gun in hand, staring in terror at a huge creature.
"A snake, a massive snake..."
Randy's heart pounded, his hands trembling.
Chuck glanced at the large python slowly slithering across the room, walked over, and grabbed it, putting it back in its enclosure.
"What the hell!"
Seeing this, Randy, still feeling weak in the knees, stood up and cursed, "This is a rescue animal?!?!"
Don't give him that!
He'd watched nature documentaries and knew that a python of this size could swallow him whole.
"'Rescue animal' my ass!"
Randy exclaimed, then after cursing turned to look at Chuck, recalling how Chuck had just casually grabbed the python and returned it to its tank.
"I lived in Florida."
Chuck's words were brief.
"Oh,"
Randy immediately understood.
That wasn't surprising.
He'd heard that Florida was practically the exotic pet capital of America, and he often saw various videos of people wrestling alligators and handling massive snakes.
It was practically a regional pastime.
Even the most dangerous Burmese pythons and invasive species didn't have an easy time with Florida locals.
He'd seen a news report about a Florida man who found a python in his yard and just grabbed it barehanded to relocate it.
The guy was completely unfazed.
So, given that someone like Chuck had lived in Florida, it wasn't surprising that he'd handle snakes like this.
"I'm going to give that security guard a piece of my mind when I find him. Is that what you call a rescue animal?"
Randy muttered, "To keep something like that as a pet, the guy's got nerves of steel, and doesn't he worry about someone getting hurt..."
"You can tell him now,"
Chuck said, pushing open the door to a bedroom, glancing inside, and then turning back to Randy.
"He's in there?"
Randy was startled, then walked over and saw the security guard who had already been killed inside.
"It's murder!"
Randy went in, looked around for a bit, and said confidently, "My instinct was right on the money!"
"You stay here. Have your forensic team come collect evidence."
Chuck pointed to the dead security guard lying on the floor. "The victim fought with the killer before his death and left behind the murderer's DNA."
He then started to walk out.
"Wait, where are you going?"
Randy immediately called out to Chuck.
"Home."
Chuck raised his hands. "You guys can handle the rest. I need to go wash my hands."
"Could we wait until my colleagues get here..."
Randy glanced at the large python in the enclosure and pleaded.
Leaving him here alone to guard the scene and keep the 'rescue pet' company was really asking too much.
"Are you scared?"
Chuck asked.
"Isn't that normal?"
Randy gave a wry smile. "I'm a regular American, not a Florida Man, and I've never lived in Florida."
"So why are you afraid?"
Chuck asked expressionlessly. "Who's taking care of these rescue pets now?"
"...I know what you're getting at."
Randy's lips twitched. "But I'm not that kind of American."
He'd been a cop for so many years and had witnessed all kinds of Americans doing reckless things, including adopting all sorts of bizarre pets.
This kind of python that could swallow people whole wasn't his first encounter.
It wasn't even the most bizarre and terrifying.
Back when he worked in California, he responded with firefighters to rescue a man from the jaws of a tiger.
This guy, like him, was incredibly unlucky—tricked by a scammer into going to meet his new girlfriend.
But as soon as he opened the door, he froze completely, as if encountering a predator, too terrified to move.
Because the so-called beloved pet 'kitty' his new girlfriend had mentioned was indeed a feline, but it had nothing to do with 'kitty'—it was a full-grown Bengal tiger.
Even though the man remained motionless, the 'rescue pet' pounced on him and mauled his arm, nearly severing it.
This bizarre and terrifying type of incident had happened more than once.
He should've been desensitized by now, but he couldn't.
This deep-seated fear, even with a gun in hand and the creature secured in its enclosure, prevented him from facing it alone.
Chuck stayed with him until his colleagues arrived before leaving.
He didn't return to his hillside villa but went to Professor Alicia Harper's new place, greeted her, and then went to clean up.
"What case were you working?"
Professor Alicia Harper tried to get out of bed but found it too difficult, so she could only awkwardly shift her position, leaning back against the headboard, and asked Chuck, who was washing up in the bathroom.
Chuck told her.
Professor Alicia Harper was only briefly surprised by the fact that the victim was the world's oldest person, but after a moment of surprise, she set it aside and refocused her attention on her earlier breakthrough, beginning a discussion with Chuck.
The two began discussing concepts that would seem incomprehensible and mysterious to most people.
Chuck made a late-night snack as they talked.
"I'll have Lisa bring you meals tomorrow,"
Chuck said, watching her eat as he brought the food over.
"What about you?"
Professor Alicia Harper asked instinctively.
"The case should've progressed by tomorrow,"
Chuck replied. "I won't have time."
"Oh,"
Professor Alicia Harper nodded, then said, "No need for Lisa, I can manage on my own."
"You can't,"
Chuck stated bluntly.
"..."
Professor Alicia Harper was speechless.
She wanted to argue, but Chuck's words were ambiguous, and she couldn't really refute them given her current condition.
Compared to the Texas legend Detective Chuck, she truly couldn't handle it... otherwise, she wouldn't be lying here unable to move.
"I can manage,"
Professor Alicia Harper insisted, feeling that with a bit more rest and some effort tomorrow, she should be able to get around on her own.
After all, being seen and cared for by another woman in her current state was rather embarrassing.
"You can't."
Chuck looked at her, very matter-of-factly. "You need to trust the science."
"...You've researched this?"
Professor Alicia Harper was already mentally prepared for her relationship with Chuck, but Chuck's overly frank approach still made her somewhat uncomfortable.
"I don't want to hurt anyone."
Chuck said calmly, "But some people always think they can push past their physical limits, and I have to account for that."
Professor Alicia Harper emotionally felt that this statement was problematic, but her scientific rationality made her agree more with Chuck's evidence-based approach.
"Lisa..."
"You don't like Lisa?"
Chuck asked when he saw her hesitating while mentioning Lisa's name.
"No."
Professor Alicia Harper's mind flashed back to the warm smiles and friendly gestures of Lisa, the Texas native, and she shook her head with a complicated expression: "I'm just not familiar with her..."
"Then should Monica come stay with you?"
Chuck suggested.
"Monica... are you serious?"
Professor Alicia Harper looked at Chuck in shock, but after studying him for a moment, she realized that Chuck would actually let Monica come stay with her, so she could only shake her head and say, "Lisa is better."
She already knew Monica and was quite familiar with her. If she had to have someone stay with her, she felt it was better to have Lisa, who was practically a stranger.
"You should get some rest."
Chuck waited for her to finish eating and cleaned up before leaving the room to sleep in the guest bedroom.
This left Professor Alicia Harper, who had been hoping for more tenderness, with a wry smile and a self-deprecating laugh: "I'm so naive, they're all the same..."
She paused, then remembered the intense, overwhelming events of the previous night, and a smile returned to her lips.
Well,
they were still different.
The difference was significant, very significant...
(End of Chapter)
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