Chapter 218: A Good Doctor - Sean, Mom Hopes You're Like Chuck
"Dr. Wolfe."
"Ms. Lockhart."
Chuck was on the phone with Diane Lockhart, the female boss of Lockhart & Gardner Law Firm, who was also Leonard's aunt.
"..." Jane stared incredulously at Chuck, who seemed to have done nothing, then looked at Monica, who was holding a kitchen knife and expressionless. She rubbed her eyes, seriously doubting whether she was having a nightmare.
But no matter how much she rubbed her eyes, nothing had changed when she opened them again. So she couldn't help but grab Chuck hard and signal to him with her eyes: "This is what you call fine?"
Chuck pressed her head down as she looked back and forth and continued calmly on the other end of the phone: "I won't come over. Get ready and start the video call."
"That works too," Diane glanced at the firm's elite team in the conference room and nodded in agreement to the plan. "Hold on a moment."
After hanging up the phone.
"Things are definitely different now," Will Gardner, another partner at the firm, couldn't help but sigh. "Before, a phone call would be enough to get him here, but now it's all video."
"And the rate's gone up," Kalinda, always sensitive to billing, remarked casually.
"Before, he was just Dr. Wolfe," Alicia Florrick, the renowned good wife, smiled. "Now he's Detective Chuck; he deserves this treatment."
"Bianca's family has money," Diane said. "Her mother won't skimp on this."
"I just wonder if he has any insight into these kinds of cases," Will Gardner couldn't help but joke. "This kind of culture didn't exist when he was in college."
"Are you like those talk show hosts, thinking about going back to college?" Diane mocked.
All three women in the conference room turned to look at him, and the only man, Will Gardner, immediately felt awkward.
When this case was reported, it inevitably drew some crude remarks from certain hosts and guests. One said this was the norm in American universities these days, and another immediately chimed in, saying that hearing about it made him want to go back to college.
As for why he'd go back? Those who know, know.
At the hillside villa, after Chuck hung up the phone, Jane couldn't help but cry out, "Chuck, what's going on? Go check on Monica..."
Before she could finish, Chuck covered her mouth.
"Quiet," Chuck reminded her. "She can't handle being startled awake."
Jane stared, speechless, at Chuck's serious expression. She wanted to speak but couldn't, gritting her teeth but also feeling reluctant. She could only pinch Chuck's side, moving around to a position facing the door, her eyes fixed on Monica standing there with a knife. In her mind, she screamed, "Are you helping or making things worse? If Monica were Bianca, seeing this, she'd probably shoot!"
For a moment, the master bedroom fell silent. Under Chuck and Jane's gaze, Monica turned and left.
"What's going on?" Jane held her breath for a long time before finally being able to speak. She took a deep breath and then asked in a low voice.
"Sleepwalking," Chuck frowned.
"Sleepwalking?" Jane shuddered. "She has this condition? What if she sleepwalks and hurts someone?"
They used to sleep in the same house, and now there's this case of a University of Chicago student shooting her best friend—it's terrifying!
"I didn't know before, but it's obvious now," Chuck said calmly. "Let's talk about it when she wakes up tomorrow."
Actually, he knew this was mostly a side effect of Paige's hypnosis, which was why Chuck immediately stopped and warned her after noticing Paige hypnotizing Monica.
The effects of hypnosis are often uncontrollable. Too much hypnosis, too deep, can easily harm the hypnotized person.
Jane wanted to complain, but seeing Chuck get up and turn on his computer, she remembered Chuck's call and tactfully changed the subject: "Are you handling the case of the University of Chicago student shooting her best friend?"
"No, I'm not handling it," Chuck shook his head. "I'm just hired to conduct an assessment of the client to help Lockhart & Gardner, the law firm that's preparing to take on the case, clarify the situation so they can decide whether to take it and what defense strategy to develop."
"What if they find out that Bianca did it intentionally?" Jane couldn't help but put herself in Bianca's shoes again.
There was no way around it. The connection was just too strong.
"Then tell them Bianca did it on purpose," Chuck said calmly.
Jane was speechless, glared at Chuck, and thinking about Monica who might be sleepwalking with a knife outside, she refused to leave and stayed in the master bedroom: "I'm your detective assistant, I'm curious about this case."
Chuck didn't chase her away.
It wasn't that he hadn't before, but she was right. Whether as his detective assistant or as one of his long-term research partners, understanding this unusual case in detail would be beneficial.
Half an hour later, the video call request came through.
Bianca, the person suspected of shooting her sorority sister and best friend, was now in custody, but as her well-paid lawyer, they could see her at any time.
"Dr. Wolfe, this is Bianca," Diane, who was in charge of the case, introduced the two parties in the video call. "Bianca, this is Detective Chuck—you probably know him. He's helping you."
"Helping assess your condition," Chuck corrected.
"Detective Chuck, I know you," Bianca was in poor condition, forcing a bitter smile. "You think I killed her too?"
"Bianca, did you kill your best friend Heather?" Chuck looked at her.
"No," Bianca immediately denied it, then, meeting Chuck's gaze, she hesitated and said, "I mean I don't know. I have no idea what happened. The first thing I remember is already standing there holding the handgun my mother bought me. Heather was lying in a pool of blood, and there were people all around the door. It looked like I did it, but I swear I really don't know what happened."
Jane, standing nearby, gasped upon hearing this, touching her neck. Even though she had locked the master bedroom door beforehand, she couldn't help but look back, then walked over, channeling her inner paranoia, double-checking if the door was locked.
"Were you on drugs?" Chuck asked.
"Yeah," Bianca said, scratching her head. "Have you heard of 'Ambien partying'?"
"Yes," Chuck nodded. "Were you hallucinating?"
"I don't know, I just wanted to sleep," Bianca said painfully.
"Okay," Chuck nodded, looking at Diane.
Diane comforted Bianca for a few moments, then hung up the video call and called Chuck alone. "So, what do you think?"
"I can't tell if she's telling the truth," Chuck said.
"That's a good thing, right?" Diane, familiar with Chuck's micro-expression lie detection abilities, was delighted to hear this. "It means she didn't kill her; she's innocent, right?"
Bianca's family is very wealthy, and their law firm is eager to serve clients like that. Although they would still provide services even if Bianca wasn't innocent, if she were innocent, wouldn't that be a win-win situation—huge financial and reputational gains?
"You can't say that," Chuck shook his head. "There are two possibilities: one, she's lying, and I can't detect it; two, she thinks she's telling the truth."
"You mean she really blacked out after taking drugs and has absolutely no memory of what she did?" Diane frowned, then said with understanding, "That works too."
With a blackout due to drugs, there's a lot more room for legal maneuvering.
"Let's do it this way," Chuck gave his opinion and was about to hang up when Jane started mouthing words, "How about we take this case? We'll go to Chicago. I'm very interested in this case, please!"
Chuck was about to refuse when his smartwatch vibrated almost imperceptibly. He adjusted his decorative glasses, glanced at Jane with an unchanged expression, and, seeing her pleading look, changed his tone: "Confirming whether she's really lying isn't difficult; we just need to go to the scene."
"Dr. Wolfe, you mean you're willing to come and investigate the scene?" Diane was overjoyed on the other end of the line.
Although Chuck's confirmation basically convinced her that Bianca truly didn't remember anything after her blackout, for the sake of the law firm's interests, it was best to be absolutely certain before accepting the case, and then develop the most accurate defense strategy to win it decisively.
The fact that Detective Chuck would personally come to the scene to investigate would make the confirmation more convincing, so why not? It's just a matter of higher fees. It's not like she's paying the bill!
"Yes," Chuck nodded at Jane. "We'll be there tomorrow."
He then hung up the phone.
"Chuck~" Jane looked at Chuck with eyes full of gratitude.
"You owe me a huge favor," Chuck pushed Jane away as she approached, and said seriously. "Go back and rest now, our flight is early tomorrow morning."
"Okay." Jane thought for a moment. It was already late, and even if she wanted to repay the favor immediately, she couldn't. Otherwise, she definitely wouldn't be able to get up tomorrow morning. She wanted to go with Chuck to take a closer look at this relatable case, so she reluctantly left.
After Jane left, Chuck's computer automatically turned on, and a nine-panel video window appeared on the screen. In the middle was Alex working late into the night in an office building in Chicago.
A phone call was made.
"Chuck?" In the video, Alex, who was engrossed in her work, picked up her phone and answered with surprise.
"Are you still in Chicago?" Chuck cut to the chase.
It had been over a month since their last planned meeting in Chicago; Chuck had been busy then and hadn't gone.
"Yes, how did you know?" Alex was taken aback, then, remembering Chuck's aversion to answering questions, she skipped it and said excitedly, "To be precise, I'm back again. The company has a lot of business in Chicago lately."
"We'll go tomorrow," Chuck said, looking at the remaining frames of the nine-panel video.
"Great! I'll book you a room right away." Alex's ice-blue eyes were full of joy, then she noticed her choice of words. "We?"
"Me and my detective assistant, Jane Banner," Chuck didn't hide anything.
"Then I'll book one, or two rooms?" Alex's smile faltered for a moment, but she quickly recovered, her smile still genuine. "I'm really looking forward to meeting this new assistant, Jane Banner. I'm so happy for you, Chuck."
"Okay," Chuck nodded and hung up the phone.
In the middle of the video, Alex listened to the dial tone on her phone, lost in thought for a moment, shook her head, picked up the hotel phone to book two of the best rooms, and buried herself back in her work. Then she looked up, glanced at her watch, opened the back to reveal an old photograph. It showed two boys, one tall and one short. The shorter one was handsome and refined, with bright, lively eyes; the taller one had his head down, his eyes distant, his expression blank.
"Sean, I hope you're doing well like Chuck. It's all my fault, Mom is so sorry..." Alex touched the old photograph, tears streaming down her face.
Chuck looked at the photograph for a while, then closed his laptop and went to sleep.
The next morning, Jane, who hadn't slept well all night, got up immediately as soon as it was light to prepare. Then she saw Monica approaching, greeting her: "Hi, Jane."
"Hi, Monica," Jane cautiously looked into Monica's eyes.
"What's wrong?" Monica looked at Jane, puzzled, and touched her face. "Is something on my face?"
"Don't you remember?" Jane stared into Monica's eyes.
"Remember what?" Monica realized there wasn't anything wrong with her face, but she still went over and looked at herself in the mirror, then asked, completely bewildered.
"Nothing..." Jane hesitated, unsure whether to say it, but after holding back, she couldn't help herself: "You sleepwalked last night, you know?"
"What?" Monica was startled, then laughed, "Don't mess with me."
"I wish I were messing with you," Jane retorted, "But last night you were standing behind me with a knife and almost scared me to death, you know?!"
"You're not kidding?" Monica was stunned.
"You really don't remember anything?" Jane thought of Bianca, whom she was going to assess today, who seemed to have amnesia, and looked at Monica nervously.
"If you're not kidding, I really don't remember anything," Monica tried hard to recall, but couldn't remember anything.
At this moment, Chuck got up and instructed, "I'll take Monica to Paige's first. You go straight to the airport, and we'll meet there."
"Okay," Jane gave Chuck a look, mouthed "she doesn't remember anything," agreed, and left.
"Chuck, is Jane telling the truth?" Monica looked at Chuck to confirm.
"Yes," Chuck nodded. "We'll talk about this later. I'll take you to Paige's first; I have to go to Chicago to handle a case."
"Alright then," Monica was very eager to know about her sleepwalking, but seeing Chuck's words, she could only suppress the matter for the time being, got into Chuck's car, and headed to Columbia University.
"Hi, Chuck," Paige was happy to see Chuck and greeted him warmly. Seeing Chuck's blank expression, a thought struck her. She glanced at Monica and smiled, "Monica, I want a Coke—can you go grab me one?"
"You drank all the Coke in the fridge? Kids shouldn't drink too much soda," Monica muttered, heading out to buy it for Paige.
"So, what's wrong?" Paige watched Monica leave, then smiled at Chuck.
Chuck told her about Monica's sleepwalking, then looked at her: "See? The side effects are already showing!"
"I'm sorry," Paige stuck out her tongue, then her eyes shifted. "But it's not entirely my fault. If you hadn't given her such a shock, she wouldn't have experienced such severe side effects. So strictly speaking, it's because of both of us that she's like this."
She bit her lower lip as she said this.
Chuck remained silent. What she said wasn't wrong.
(End of Chapter)
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