Puzzle Madness

Chapter 46 Partner
The mathematician blew out his breath and snorted:
"Ask for help? Isn't that coercion and kidnapping? Do you mean that this counts as asking for help?"

Richard, his face full of seriousness and sincerity, spread out his hands; the mathematician's hands were as weak as if hitting cotton:
"I had no intention of harming him. Look, I was wearing a mask and a hair cap at the time—right? That was enough to conceal my identity, so there was no need to kill the medical examiner to silence him. I didn't intend to cause any more trouble. It would be a waste of time."

Richard didn't give the mathematician another chance to interrupt and continued the previous topic:

"Anyway—the reason I went to the police morgue is also related to the interesting story I want to tell you; Doudou, my friend."

"But there's something I didn't get to say before. I need to be frank with you now to avoid affecting our subsequent conversation and to prevent any misunderstandings."

"I'm not sure what exactly happened, but I had a colleague who might have had some conflict with you a few days ago? Or maybe an argument? Anyway, he ended up dead. So, Doudou, I knew from the beginning that you were no ordinary person. If he did anything to offend you, please believe me: I absolutely do not approve of his behavior."

Doudou scratched his head, bewildered. He closed his eyes and seemed to search his mind carefully before finally answering:
"Who?"

Richard's mouth twitched, and he immediately brought his hands to his face, outlining the shape of his beard:
"Gray hair and gray stubble? A foreigner? He's wearing a black windbreaker, a white shirt, and hard-soled leather shoes. He's middle-aged, probably in his forties, almost 1.9 meters tall; he's very strong and looks fierce."

Doudou folded his hands in front of his chest, his expression becoming more serious:
"Oh! I see! You're talking about that one, that someone, um, I don't remember him."

The mathematician raised his hand to adjust his glasses and suddenly said:
"You don't look like a local."

Richard nodded and gave the mathematician a perfunctory response—his patience seemed endless.

"Well, I'm mixed-blood—that's Doudou's friend, a colleague of mine who died in an elevator. If you still can't remember, he was a heavy smoker, never leaving his cigarette."

Doudou's eyes suddenly widened, and the iron chopsticks in his hand bent into an arc:

"O-oh! Smoking in the elevator! Now that reminds me, that's abominable; I had almost forgotten. Do you smoke?"

Richard and the mathematician both shook their heads quickly, their speed almost twitching.

"No." / "I have bronchitis."

Looking around, there are naturally many smokers and drinkers in the food stalls:
"Well, smoking is fine: you see, there are many people smoking in food stalls now. But don't smoke in places like the elevator; and don't throw cigarette butts around casually—oh! Your colleague seemed to be hitting someone in the elevator at that time? But I was angry, so I went home first."

Richard reached out and rolled up the plastic tablecloth. He lowered his head, as if carefully observing the wrinkles on the disposable plastic tablecloth.

"Beating someone. Do you remember what happened? Did the person being beaten say anything special?"

Doudou pinched his chin with two fingers, frowning in thought:
"No, that lady said she doesn't smoke—oh! wait, she doesn't seem to know how to talk, she just mumbled something. I smelled her breath, and there wasn't much of a cigarette smell, so I ignored it." "Hey, Lao Li, why are you asking this? Wait, wait, I know! Your colleague is here to hunt down the PhD!"

Snapped!
Doudou's head snapped and turned ninety degrees in the blink of an eye, turning to the mathematician:
"Just after Lao Li's colleague started smoking and beating people up, you moved in, Doctor. Didn't you say that the people who helped you told you that the most dangerous place is the safest place? I guess the guy who was beaten up by his colleague was one of the people who helped you—oh, one of them!"

"Normally, there aren't many outsiders visiting our neighborhood, let alone so many of them coming in a row! So there must be a connection, it's not a coincidence. Otherwise, why would I specifically ask you to move next to my house?"

"I understand what that meant. That's why I asked you to move here! It means: Although this neighborhood is dangerous with people randomly beating people up and smoking in the elevator, it's still safe because there are enthusiastic residents like me who help maintain order!"

The mathematician was completely unable to keep up with Doudou's rapid progress. He felt as if someone had injected a whole tube of suppositories into his head, leaving his entire brain ridges slippery.

"Huh? Is this what it actually means? I thought it meant..."

The mathematician was speechless - he almost said the words [Doudou is the most dangerous].

"Please wait, Doudou friend—and you, Doctor."

Richard raised his hands solemnly, palms facing outwards:
"I have no idea what we're talking about; but I haven't received any orders regarding the Doctor, let alone hunting him down."

No one could figure out whether the mathematician really meant it, or was simply trying to escape the strange and nerve-wracking conversation he had with Doudou:
"Doudou. What Doudou said makes a lot of sense."

"Li Chuck, I don't know if what you said is true. Or maybe you're just afraid of death. First, tell Doudou why you want to know what was said."

Richard frowned, not liking the hostility the mathematician had been showing:
"I think Doudou has his own ideas, and he doesn't need anyone else to speak for him. Besides—I now believe that we are actually on the same side, and even facing the same enemy."

"Especially you, Doctor. You and I have the same enemy, don't you? My colleague's [beating someone] in the elevator might have just been a conflict caused by a misunderstanding. After all, it has nothing to do with me. I just want to stand from Doudou's perspective and help him organize more intelligence and information."

"Besides—now the company isn't just after you. They want to kill me too. At least, if we only look at Asia-Europe Post, that's true. So is there any need to question whether I'm lying out of fear?"

"Besides, I went to the police morgue just to examine that colleague's body. I thought there might be some clues that I hadn't discovered in time. As for the Asia-Europe Post—"

The more Doudou listened, the more his eyes wandered. He finally couldn't help but interrupt the long-winded Richard:
"Eh—that seems to be the truth. But, didn't you say you had something interesting to tell me before? Could that smoking guy be your colleague? Is this interesting?"

"Alright, alright, Lao Li, let's finish the fun stuff I was going to say earlier!"

(End of this chapter)