Middendorffi, Eli, and President Adams chatted directly in the corner of the nursing home corridor.
"Mr Brown, did you ... see something?" President Adams was reluctant to advance this dialogue; after all, who knew that the "dead horse" approach would work? President Adams would rather have a psychiatrist give his opinion than Brown and Jones, who could see the way.
"There are shadows." Middendorffi said, "But Creato is suppressing it and keeping it from coming out, so it's hard to see."
President Adams frowned, "Could it be another personality with a split personality?"
"Not sure." Middendorffi was honest: "I've never seen a split personality."
President Adams realized how easy it was to get into "breathless" conversations with this "Brown mage." He had to continue, "So, do you two have a solution?"
Middendorffi gently opened his mouth, but swallowed back the words that came to his mouth, and turned to Eli, "I can only 'see', the solution needs to ask him."
So President Adams also looked at Eli, who answered, "As I said earlier, I want it to come out first, to see the whole picture before I know how to solve it."
"But Crea isn't happy about that thing coming out right now; it's very offensive, as you can see ..." President Adams said, "Does it have to come out? Did it trigger this that led to all that?"
Eli responded coldly, "Your son is not cooperating and cannot confirm without seeing it."
"That ..." President Adams was also in a difficult position. At that exact moment, the doctor from the sanatorium approached from the ward and rushed to President Adams, " President Adams, Creato's mental state is not very stable, and staying up like this all the time without sleep will also significantly impact his body. We're ready to sedate him, and by the way, force him to sleep as well. Afterward, if he sleeps more, you guys don't have to worry too much; it's normal."
"Okay, please." President Adams said, "By the way, please try again to see if you can confirm whether Crea has a ... er, split personality or not?"
"That, and we'll certainly do our best with whatever the patient has." The doctor returned, "But there's no way to give a timetable, so please be a little patient."
President Adams, who couldn't get a definitive statement from either end, was a bit upset, but there was nothing he could do, so he just said, "Alright. By the way, if the other personality on Crea appears, remember to notify us immediately; we want to come and take a look."
Typically, a doctor might not directly agree to such a request suspected of affecting treatment. But this place cost a lot of money, so the doctor accepted it immediately and only nodded, "We'll assess the situation. If the impact is not too great, the family can come and look."
The matter had come to a head and could only be dispersed.
***
When they returned from the sanatorium, the Collector was already off duty, but Henry came to pick them up "seamlessly."
Middendorffi realizes that Eli is already going to see the house.
Middendorffi turns to Eli and asks, "You're moving out?"
Eli didn't answer directly, just said, "I don't have any money."
Henry, who was driving in front of him, almost laughed out loud when he heard this, thinking that there was a time when Eli was talking to Middendorffi. He was about to say that his colleague from "The Collector" could lend him some money when Middendorffi had already removed an envelope from his pocket and put it into Eli's hand: "I'll lend it to you."
This behavior took Eli and Henry aback for a moment, then Eli inclined his head and laughed silently while Henry asked, "What's that?"
"From that President Adams driver today, we all have it; the cash we took said it was handy." Middendorffi answered honestly, "He also said that he has these 'fares' every time he visits."
President Adams's driver said it politely, but that's what Middendorffi meant when she summed it up. Henry let out an "Oh." He'd been there when Lupin had said the "look-at-it" rate and had later told Lupin that five thousand was too cheap for Bear and Eli's level. Although for the public sector, this price is quite regular, for private work, this should be many times the price is right.
Lupin was like, "What are you worried about? President Adams has a big family, so naturally, he pays a 'consulting fee' for each visit, 5,000 per person, and the price for demon removal is another price."
Henry lamented, "Mum if we didn't have a public job, how good would it be for us to earn this money?"
"You think this staff turnover rate we have is a joke." Lupin snorted, "But I'm not going, I can't borrow 'evaporators' for work out there, and I don't have a teammate to save me. Living on the tip of a knife without a strong backing, what's there to live for ..."
The discussion about the price of the job was put aside, and now that Middendorffi said he got a fare, Henry remembered what had been told in the department earlier and said, "So you can feel free to go for a review, huh?"
Eli asked, "What's he going to review?"
"The brain. With this symptom of his memory loss, it's still a good idea to keep an eye on the brain for any after-effects, and it's a good idea to see a psychiatrist as well." Henry casually returned, "By the way, the nursing home you went to, how is the level of doctors? ... Oh, forget it, it should be quite expensive there. It's better if we refer you to a doctor, we won't blackmail you."
Eli asks Middendorffi again, "So, you're going to get checked out?"
Middendorffi: "Not going."
Eli puts the envelope with the money back in Middendorffi's hand, "Then I'm not renting a room yet either."
Henry: "..." You two have to be stubborn with each other, don't you?
He was about to persuade one by one and then heard Middendorffi say: "Brother Henry, do you know the investigation of Creato's case?"
"I know a little bit about it, but it's not much different from the information currently exposed on the internet." Henry's attention was diverted, "What, did you guys see something today? Is this something that can be revealed to me? Bear, unless you are approached by an official authority such as the 'collectors' or the police, you may not divulge information about these cases. After all, these big money ... I mean, rich clients are very particular about what they call 'privacy.'"
Middendorffi said, "But there's a lot I can't figure out, probably because I don't remember."
"Hey, okay, okay, I'm tight-lipped, ask away." Henry went soft again for a moment, "I'll give you some advice, and by the way, go ask to see if there's any inside information."
Middendorffi then told all the ins and outs of his visit to Create.
Henry listened as he drove, and when Middendorffi's dry description was finished, he first exclaimed, "The Addams family has gone to great lengths to get this son off the hook."
Middendorffi asked, "So I shouldn't get involved in this?"
"Rather than rush to judgment, let's just say it's customary for the family to make such efforts; they don't think about it, and the lawyers teach it." Henry said, "So, you did see something on Creato but weren't sure exactly what it was, right?"
"Hmm."
"I'll be honest, our people have seen people with split personalities and didn't say anything about a vapor on such a patient." Henry returned, "According to you, Creator himself doesn't want it to come out, does he?"
"It should." Middendorffi said, "But I don't know the reason."
"If he's using sleep to keep the thing out, at least Creator has the upper hand in his body for now." Henry gave a beat of analysis, "But it does feel strange that Creato won't even chat about the thing's existence. After all, he's still able to suppress his opponent, and by speaking of the existence of this thing, whether or not he can reduce his sentence, he can at least psychologically lessen the pressure. If he was haunted by something ghostly, it was all the more reason to hurry up and speak up for help.
"Does he not even want to acknowledge the existence of this thing now? Does he not know its importance, or is he just hell-bent on recognizing the eleven lives and the fire?"
Middendorffi said, "That's why I don't understand."
"I know you don't understand, and you're asking me because you don't understand, and I'm just trying to make sense of it." Henry said, "But, even though you haven't seen the thing yet, can you feel if it's harmful or harmless?"
"Not sure, it's just a shadow blocked by the main body; it's not easy to tell good from evil."
"Then can you be sure there's no way to deal with it if it doesn't come out? Does Mr Jones feel the same way?"
Eli said, "I agree with Bear."
Henry mused, "Maybe we can get some people who are good at dealing with demonic possession to try ..."
"Can't handle it." Eli said, "Try as much as you can."
"... Okay." Henry was somewhat tempted to look at the sky speechlessly. He didn't know if Eli had this ability to "defy all other competent people," but this business was Middendorffi and Eli's now, so Henry held his tongue and just said, "Anyway, he's exposing the existence of this thing by keeping it from the public than accusing him of killing eleven people. Since he has been sedated and assisted to sleep, sleep must be unavoidable. Since this could have appeared while he was asleep, let's wait until you see it. I'll also keep an eye on the progress of the investigation of this case, and if I get any news, I'll sneak it in and let you guys know."
"Well, thanks."
"What's the point of being polite? It's just a matter of assisting you in making a little money, and it's well deserved, given your skills." Henry smoothed the conversation, "After all, you need money for your review and Mr Jones' food, clothing, and shelter."
Middendorffi was in no hurry to retort this time but asked, "Why do you always want Eli to move out quickly?"
Henry thought to himself, "If you didn't have so little common sense right now, who cares about your shit. But that couldn't be said to his face, so Henry could only politely say, "After all, it's too weird for you two big men always to be crammed into one room, right? People don't normally live like this."
Middendorffi confirmed, "People don't normally live like this?"
"Two grown men who aren't related and have just met each other rarely do anyway, part-time jobbers living in dormitories and hostel bunks aside. When I said I'd lend Mr Jones a place to stay, it was just a contingency, but it can't always be like this."
Middendorffi listened and pondered for a few seconds.
He then puts the envelope with the money in it into Eli's hand again, "Let's go and show you the flat later."
Eli: "..."