You look at me. I look at you.
That was the situation in the Davenport Police Bureau as the tall handsome Police Captain and the shorter, bearded Police Officer had a standoff with the entire team looking at them.
Arlen smiled, "Officer West, why would you say that?" There was a hint of amusement in his smile that made Ravi want to roll his eyes.
"10,000 dollars is too small for someone with mind control to exert himself...Too troublesome." Besides, her face is too blank, her eyes unfocused. Someone who was being mind-controlled would not display such emotions, she would not even notice that something was happening to her mind.
He had personal experience with a person with mind control abilities. He had not known any mental block technique and so Hunter had played him for a fool so many times. It takes time and lots of practice to build a mental block to prevent someone from infiltrating your mind. He rubbed his forehead in time to hear Lisa clap her hands excitedly.
"True. If I have mind control abilities, why would I steal the 10,000 dollars of an old woman like Mrs Karen? I would go to the bank and ask them to give me ten million dollars in cash and then erase the CCTV and everything that would link the money to me, then I would fly to the Capital, buy a house, and live every day in splendor."
Everyone looked at her in shock and Lisa realized what she said and shook her head, waving her hand around, "I was thinking from the point of view of the criminal. What would a criminal do? I would never do something like that."
"I knew it." Draco quipped and Lisa gritted her teeth, her black jewel-like eyes had a sheen to them as she struggled to explain herself.
"Profiling. They taught us in our behavioral analysis class. I am a good honest citizen. Since I was born…"
Before Lisa could give the history of her entire life, the smiling Arlen patted her on the shoulders, "I believe you."
Ravi held back his laughter at Lisa looking at Arlen as if he was her savior.
Savior. The word in his mind caused his mirth to disappear and he lowered his head. Ravi suddenly wanted 4 pm to arrive sooner, a jar of wine would be great.
"Let us not lose focus. Mind control is a very rare ability. For five hundred years in Avalon, there have been only two recorded people with mind control ability and great disasters have always followed their emergence. I think that if it is mind control, then the Oracle of Avalon should have warned us."
His words caused everyone to nod. Ravi stroked his beard, the Oracle of Avalon, the moment he came to Earth, he felt her prodding against his mental walls, he wanted to retaliate when he had felt her age and just pushed her away. She was young, just twelve years old then, she should be sixteen now, not yet an adult.
"But that does not remove other mental manipulation abilities," Tom noted.
Arlen nodded, "Judging from her trance-like state, it should be hypnosis or something like that. We need to contact the Hero's Association in Davenport."
"The hero association? Captain, it is our case." Draco argued.
"Officer Brown, if our preparator has the ability of hypnosis, how are you planning to fight against him? We might have a duty to the public but we also have a duty to ourselves."
Ravi looked at Arlen strangely and rubbed his chest.
Arlen continued, "Sergeant Smith would contact the Hero Association. I would inform the Chief. Officer West, you would contact Mrs Karen and pick her brain about what she can remember. Officer Johnson, you would look over the Surveillance records of the nearby stores. Officer Brown and Officer Adam, I want the two of you to go back to the Garfield Laundry. Cooperate with the Vehicle Registration Department and look for the cars parked nearby that have dash cams, you can collect the records from the car. Act in haste, an unregistered mutant is not just a danger to the public but also their themselves."
Everyone stood up to leave for their assigned task, Ravi headed to the phone with the file that Mrs Karen filled.
"Officer West. You can not just call her on the phone. There are a lot of things you can glean during a face-to-face conversation."
"So, I should video call her?"
Arlen laughed, wiping a few tears from the corner of his ears, "No. Go there in person." He carried the files out of his office and stopped to look back at Ravi, "you are quite funny, Officer West." He said before heading upstairs to where the Chief was either smoking or sleeping.
Him, funny?
"Ah! It seems like the Captain does not know Ravi well. Where is he funny? With that face of his, that looks like someone owes him money." Lisa said with a mocking smile.
"At least I am not running away with ten million dollars." He quipped back as he took the car keys from the Sergeant's table.
Lisa stood up like she had been stung, "Officer West! Ravi!" She tried to stop him but Ravi slipped through the doors hearing her last words, "I was profiling."
He stood in front of the police car and paused. His mind went back to a few hundred years ago.
"You want to transmigrate as the Villain's Henchman?"
"It is like killing two birds with one stone. I get to infiltrate their coven and I can transform the Villain to the path of good. I can save her. What do you think, Carl? Isn't it brilliant?"
"Hahaha! Ravi, you are so funny. Transform the villain. Why would you waste your time, just kill her. Haha! You are seriously funny."
Ravi rubbed his forehead, When Arlen had said it, it did not have the same cadence as Carl. There was a sincerity to Arlen that was quite captivating. When he said he was funny, it did not make Ravi feel foolish. Quite the opposite, it was…it felt good.
"Arlen Sinclair." Ravi rolled the words around his tongue.