Chapter 214: Detective Chuck: You Can't Be That Stupid, Can You? Really? Really?
"Where is your mother now?"
Patrick Kloster suddenly smiled. "I'm curious why she said that?"
Beth Harmon was stunned, her mind flashing back to images of her mother before her death.
"You've gone too far!"
Jane shouted angrily.
She didn't believe Patrick Kloster didn't know that Beth Harmon was a prodigy discovered by the instructor at an orphanage. And who ends up in an orphanage?
He clearly knew, yet he still used that to hurt a nine-year-old girl; it was utterly despicable.
"How have I gone too far?"
Patrick Kloster feigned ignorance and remained self-righteous. He might have been more patient with such a rising star in the chess world before, but after Beth Harmon said those things, she had become his opponent. And in competition, one can use any psychological tactics necessary to win.
"Mr. Kloster..."
The instructor could only try to smooth things over, quietly going over to remind the world champion grandmaster about Beth Harmon's background.
"Oh, I see."
Patrick Kloster suddenly looked apologetic, turning to the stunned Beth Harmon. "I'm sorry, I didn't know... I believe your mother was a very wise person, and I respect her opinion."
"Alright, everyone go back."
The instructor, sensing the awkward atmosphere, could only disperse the spectators, leaving the room for the parties involved.
"Leonard?"
Seeing everyone else leave but Leonard lingering, the instructor frowned and reminded him.
"I'm waiting for Chuck."
Leonard said with a forced smile.
"You go first."
Chuck said.
"Okay."
Leonard immediately agreed with a resigned expression and obediently left.
"Beth, I'll take you back."
The instructor roused the still dazed Beth Harmon, taking the gift to escort her home.
Beth Harmon glanced at Chuck and left with the instructor.
"Patrick."
After only Chuck and the other three remained in the classroom, the heavyset woman Linda looked at her husband with a complicated expression.
"Linda, what are you doing here?"
Patrick Kloster asked with a half-smile. "Didn't you say you were going to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting?"
"I..."
The heavyset Linda was immediately flustered.
As an alcoholic, she often struggled with the decision of whether to drink or not, especially due to external pressure. She had attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings quite often.
But how much could mere talking help with quitting when you were already addicted?
It would only mean that she would still drink!
This didn't stop her from attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings; the drinking was her own business, and attending the meetings was just for appearances.
She had indeed come to see Chuck under the guise of attending an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.
"You know she's never quit drinking, but you're pretending not to know,"
Chuck said. "Why? Don't tell me you're planning to use this to stage an accident?"
"How would I stage an accident?"
Jane stared at Patrick Kloster and asked.
"Find where she secretly hides her liquor, time it perfectly, and drug it. That would provide a very strong alibi. If the drug is chosen precisely, it could create the illusion of an accidental death from alcoholism. Without evidence of murder, the judge won't issue a full autopsy order,"
Chuck said calmly. "This is the simplest and also the most foolish method!"
"Oh?"
Patrick Kloster's eyes narrowed, and he gave a forced smile. "I'd like to hear more."
"Poisoning your wife, no matter how clever the plan, will always have major flaws,"
Chuck pointed out. "Your motive is far too obvious. You specifically bought your wife a ten-million-dollar accidental death insurance policy. Do you think the police and the insurance company investigators are idiots? And the success of this method depends entirely on whether the police and judges are willing to pursue it. You're betting that they won't have the motivation to push it hard.
By constantly increasing the probability of failure by whispering in your wife's ear that you're going to kill her beforehand, you don't demonstrate confidence; you just appear foolish.
You might be able to tell the police she was drunk and mentally unstable, hallucinating, but if she recorded you threatening to kill her beforehand, and it comes out after her death, even if she had mental health issues, that's enough to make the police and judges push the investigation forward.
If you fail, a full autopsy and toxicology test will completely expose the method of murder.
By poisoning your wife, you had the advantage of being able to control the timing before the method was revealed. But once the method was exposed, your fabricated alibi would become completely useless.
With motive, method, and timing all in place, finding evidence wouldn't be difficult. The poison you used had to be one that was difficult for a forensic examiner to detect on a routine examination—not something easily obtained. With a full search warrant approved by the judge, tracing this lead would be easy.
This murder method, which can hardly be called 'accidental,' depends entirely on luck and the opponent's incompetence. Crude and clumsy, its only advantage is its simplicity, requiring little thought—perfect for the 'genius idea' conceived by a romantic artist on a whim. I doubt it's the kind of brilliant move a world chess champion, a grandmaster who loves to play with intellect, would make on the chessboard of life?"
"Of course not."
Patrick Kloster's smile faltered. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
He shifted his gaze from Chuck's expressionless face to his wife, Linda. "Darling, do you know?"
The heavyset Linda turned deathly pale.
Chuck's seemingly romantic but foolish idea sounded like a bombshell to her.
If her husband used this method to kill her, it would be far too easy.
And the more she thought about it, the more terrified she became. She had publicly told everyone she had quit drinking, and she had indeed succeeded briefly. But just as she was preparing to continue, her husband began whispering in her ear that he wanted to kill her and that her days were numbered. The pressure was immense, and she easily began secretly hiding and drinking alcohol again.
And before, she had been grateful that no one had discovered her secret.
But now, after Chuck's words, she suddenly realized that the reason she didn't avoid her husband who wanted to kill her, nor divorce him, besides the real reason she didn't want to leave, was also because she couldn't hide behind obvious excuses.
Her incredibly clever husband, who could see through her so easily, couldn't possibly have missed her secret drinking!
And her husband, who had been holding back, had recently suddenly and foolishly whispered in her ear about wanting to kill her, provoking her to relapse into drinking. Considering that her husband was going to Moscow next week for the World Championship, it was practically like he was orchestrating a perfect alibi for murder.
This kind of World Championship is broadcast live the whole time, meaning the whole world would witness his alibi, making it extremely credible. Without solid evidence, or before the judge is prepared to risk their reputation for the sake of justice, it's almost impossible for them to issue any search warrant.
"So this is what you were planning to do..."
Linda, who had always been seen as a foolish alcoholic by her husband, suddenly found her mind clearer than ever before. Following Chuck's analysis, she pieced everything together logically, and the more she thought about it, the more she felt that this might be what her husband had been planning. She couldn't help but murmur the words aloud.
"What are you saying?"
Patrick Kloster's smile remained unchanged. "Darling, are you hallucinating again?"
"No, I'm not."
The voluptuous Linda had never been so afraid of being told she was hallucinating, and she quickly denied it.
"So, in your eyes, I'm stupid?"
A hint of unease flashed across Patrick Kloster's smile, quickly disappearing.
"No, of course not."
Her husband's authoritative image over the years made Linda instinctively deny the claim.
Her husband was a world-class Grandmaster, renowned worldwide for his intelligence; he certainly couldn't be a fool.
"Darling, we should go back."
Patrick Kloster beckoned to Linda.
"Linda, don't fall for his manipulation!"
Jane quickly warned Linda, seeing that she had been misled by Patrick Kloster. "Whether he's stupid or not depends on who you compare him to. The difference between people is huge. In terms of intelligence, the gap between him and Chuck is even greater than the gap between you and him. Therefore, compared to Chuck, he seems very foolish. But putting Chuck aside, if he really had this intention to kill you, who could have done anything to seek justice for you?"
Linda was stunned for a moment, then a look of realization dawned on her.
Although she didn't think the gap between Chuck and her husband was greater than the gap between her and her husband, she could see that Chuck might indeed be smarter than her husband!
Because she was still thinking about their future, she didn't want to speak out directly. Instead, she voted with her feet, not going as her husband had asked, but silently walking to Jane's side.
"Let me speak for Linda,"
Jane said with a smile to Patrick Kloster, whose face had paled. "She has already revealed the whole story behind your attempt to kill her, as Chuck requested, and recorded it on video. If you actually do it, with this recording, the judge can issue a search warrant. If you still want to do it, think twice."
She then slapped her forehead, her tone sarcastic. "Oh, I forgot, you're a world champion grandmaster, supposedly the smartest person ever. Your specialty is carefully considering every move you make."
"Next game?"
Chuck walked to the chessboard, restored it to its starting position, and looked at Patrick Kloster. "You win. I won't get involved in this case anymore."
"Ah!"
Linda exclaimed in surprise, looking at Jane with a pleading expression.
"Don't worry."
Jane was also taken aback, but out of absolute trust in Chuck, she grabbed Linda's hand and reassured her, "Chuck never loses!"
"I'll say it again."
Patrick Kloster's eyes flickered a few times, and he chuckled, "Right now you're a nobody, you're not qualified to play against me. If you want to play against me, earn your way to my level first."
After saying that, he gave Chuck a penetrating look, smiled at his flustered wife Linda, and said, "Darling, come back whenever you want to come home, I'll be waiting for you."
Then he left.
"That bastard!"
Jane cursed as she watched his back, then looked at Chuck with concern and said, "What does he mean? Why doesn't he want to play against you?"
In her opinion, if this arrogant guy wanted to use this to play a psychological game against Chuck, then he shouldn't have refused Chuck's challenge.
Only someone afraid of losing would refuse.
But if he was afraid of losing, why was he so arrogant as to provoke Chuck?
It didn't make any sense.
"I don't know."
Chuck shook his head.
The opponent was highly intelligent, extremely shrewd, and clearly had antisocial personality disorder; it was impossible to glean any useful information from his expression.
"What should we do then?"
Jane asked the crucial question for Linda.
This kind of thing only gets more troublesome the longer it drags on, and no one has the energy or time to waste on it.
"Since he insists I qualify before he'll play against me, let's just do as he wishes,"
Chuck said nonchalantly.
Jane immediately smiled in relief.
"This is pretty difficult, isn't it?"
Compared to Jane, who knew nothing about chess, the voluptuous Linda, as the wife of a world champion, had some knowledge and immediately realized the difficulty: "To reach the world championship level through normal channels is extremely difficult. Even if you have the intelligence and skill, you'd need to spend a lot of time participating in various chess tournaments to accumulate rating points and advance. It's impossible in less than a year or two!"
"Really?"
Jane was stunned and couldn't help but look at Chuck.
"Normally, that's how it works,"
Chuck nodded. "But like any Western organization, the Chess Federation values practical interests most and has flexible rules. If you really want to participate in a tournament in a short time, or even directly participate in next week's Candidates Tournament, it's not impossible, it's just a little complicated."
"How?"
Jane asked curiously.
"First, make a name for yourself,"
Chuck said. "Participate in a regional tournament, defeat the grandmasters present, and then arrange for enough grandmasters and International Masters to participate in a sensational 1v24 simultaneous exhibition with the angle of 'who is smarter, a top mathematician or a chess grandmaster?' Then, ask the Chess Federation for help. The Chess Federation, which is seeking publicity and profit, will definitely be willing to bend the rules and invite me to participate in the Candidates Tournament. If nothing unexpected happens, I can go to Moscow next week and stand in front of him, in chess—his best game—and make him concede defeat."
"That's great!"
Jane felt weak in the knees, her eyes sparkling. "I really look forward to standing in front of this bastard and seeing him break down!"
The heavyset Linda also looked expectant. The sooner she eliminates her husband's murderous intent, the sooner she can return to her family and resume her comfortable life as a wealthy wife.
"This is still too troublesome,"
Chuck shook his head. "This is probably one of the outcomes he hopes for. He probably thinks he can defeat me in front of everyone and prove something, but true wisdom lies in 'you fight your way, I fight mine'!"
"Do you have any other ideas?"
Jane reached out and put her hand on Chuck's shoulder, saying curiously, "An easier way?"
"Of course,"
Chuck glanced at Jane, "but it's not the right time to talk about it. Let's get Mrs. Kloster settled first, and we can discuss these things later."
Although the heavyset Linda was reluctant and wanted to know immediately, Jane readily agreed after Chuck's suggestion, and she could only helplessly accept the outcome.
(End of Chapter)
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