The Man Who Hears Your Mind

First Case

Fifteen years on, Nicky is now a gentlemanly adult man. Nicky lives with a grudge lodged in his body. Everything he has done in the past fifteen years has always led to his goal of revenge, including his decision to enter the police academy. Nicky realizes that if he wants revenge on criminals from the elite class, then he must be able to reach out to the elite class. That's why Nicky studied and trained hard until he finally passed the selection to enter the police academy.

Nicky has been a detective in the Texas police for three years. He wants to continue the struggle and avenge his father. Of course, being in this position takes work for him. While his friends enjoyed adolescence by going to dances, nightclubs, or even summer vacations abroad, Nicky had to study and train physically for dozens of hours a day because he knew it was not easy to enter the police academy. There was a moment when Nicky wanted to give up, but then the vengeful figure lodged in his body rose as if to remind Nicky of his purpose in life; Revenge on the murderer of his parents.

After graduating from the police academy, Nicky was placed at the headquarters because of his brilliant achievements. He always got perfect grades during his time in the police academy. Nicky is an expert in theory and practice. His brain is intelligent, and his physique is muscular. Moreover, he has abilities that no one else has—the ability to hear the thoughts of the interlocutor. Of course, that ability helps Nicky run his days at the police academy. Although life is shrouded in resentment, Nicky has never acted carelessly. He always makes decisions with careful consideration. That's all he did so that no one could stand in his way in revenge. And now, after working as a detective for three years, Nicky has enough experience to start carrying out his secret missions.

Today is the second day of winter in the year. The weather forecast says there may be blizzards in the next few days. Everyone is asked to be careful in activities outside the home, especially when driving. Nicky, who was watching the news in his office, remembered the incident fifteen years ago. Since the accident, Nicky has been a little traumatized if he has to drive in the winter. However, Nicky always tries to deal with it; he doesn't want the trauma to get in the way of his revenge mission.

Nicky's office phone rang. It was a call from his co-worker on duty in the traffic division. The officer said he had just received a report of a body found in the Sam Forest area of Houston. Nicky, who got the news, then immediately headed to the location of the discovery of the body. When he got there, there were already two patrol cars belonging to the police and several traffic police officers. They have set up a police cordon around the discovery of the bodies to keep the place from being approached by unauthorized people.

Nicky then walked over to the location, greeting the police officer with a slight nod. They also allowed Nicky to cross the police line. The first thing Nicky saw was a female corpse in terrible condition. Nicky approached the corpse, observing. Her whole body was bruised, and her hands and feet were broken. It seems that she died because of persecution. There were no sharp weapon injuries or gunshots on her body. Nicky then took out a small book from his jacket pocket. He always makes small notes when he is at a crime scene.

The forensic team then arrived at the location, and one of the forensic team disturbed Nicky as a sign of greeting. They immediately took photos of the condition of the corpse. It is urgently needed for the investigation process. Nicky stood up again; he approached the traffic police who had contacted him. "Who first found this body?" asked Nicky.

The police also called a man standing not far from the location but outside the police line. Nicky then took the man to the police station for questioning; he was one of the main witnesses in the case. Now, the two of them are already in the detective’s room. Nicky was ready with his laptop while the man was already sitting in the front seat of Nicky's desk. The interrogation process began.

The man first found the body while hunting birds at 5 a.m. The forest is indeed often visited by people to pursue. At first, he was suspicious of a pile of dried leaves resembling mounds. As if someone deliberately piled dry leaves on that part. He also put away the dry leaves with his rifle, how surprised he was when he saw a human body among the pile of leaves.

"Did you touch the victim?” Nicky asked after the man finished telling the story.

The man shook his head quickly, "No. As soon as I saw it, my body immediately trembled. I didn't dare to do anything but contact the police. So I didn't touch her because I was sure she was dead." The man, his face looks ashen. He must have been shocked to find a body that was most likely a murder victim.

It is during this interrogation that Nicky usually uses his unique abilities. He will try hard to stare at each other intensely with the other person for ten seconds. Yes, it should be ten seconds and intense. So during those ten seconds, Nicky's eyes must collide with the eyes of the interlocutor; if, for just a second, the interlocutor turns his face or blurs his gaze, then Nicky cannot hear the contents of the thoughts of the interlocutor.

Nicky first learned that fact when he was in senior high school. At first, he wondered why there were people whose thoughts he couldn't hear. Nicky also did various kinds of trial and error to find "weaknesses" from his strengths. Finally, he realized that the voice of a new thought would be heard within ten seconds of staring at each other without any pause or interruption. That's why Nicky can't hear everyone's thoughts. In daily activities, the average person will only stare at each other intensely for five seconds, unlike if the person is in a deep talk or meeting. And, of course, Nicky never told anyone about the strengths and weaknesses of those advantages. He continued to keep the secret for a dozen years.

This time Nicky asked a fundamental question whose answer he could remember so he could type it later. That way, she can stare at the man intensely. "Do you often hunt in that forest? Did you come there yesterday? What time do you usually arrive in the forest?"

The man looked at Nicky's face, replying, "I usually go hunting once a week, and I always do it on weekends, like today. So yesterday I didn't come to that forest. I usually leave home at four in the morning and arrive at the location at five. Because I think the morning is a good time to hunt birds." With such an answer, they stared intensely for more than ten seconds.

The voice also rang in Nicky's ears. Yes, the voice of thought from the middle-aged man before him. "I never expected my supposed fun to be so shocking like this. Ah, the corpse's face is still in my mind." Nicky nodded in understanding as if he was listening carefully to the sentence that came out of the man's mouth, even though Nicky had just confirmed that he had received the answer he wanted: to hear the man's thoughts.

Nicky allowed him to go home. But before that, Nicky had already given his business card to the man and asked him to continue cooperating during the investigation process. The man also nodded with a heavy heart. He can't refuse it if he doesn't want to be regarded as an obstacle in the investigation process.