008 Chief Hopper's Doubts
Early morning.
"Ha..." Robin sat in the back seat of Richard's bike, yawning, feeling limp all over and her lower back aching.
Having overestimated her alcohol tolerance, Robin had slept very "peacefully." She was only woken up by Richard the next day; otherwise, she would have continued sleeping with her lower body on the sofa and her upper body pressed against the floor. Her hangover would have been worse, but after drinking the delicious hangover remedy Richard prepared for her in the morning, her spirits were much better, though she was still a bit drowsy.
"You didn't go home all night. Is everything okay with your family?" Richard asked, feeling the warmth pressed against his back as he glanced back slightly.
Robin leaned against Richard's broad, solid back, her eyes narrowed. "Mm," she hummed. "It's fine. I told them yesterday that I'd be back late, or maybe not at all, and told them not to wait up for me."
"I see." Richard nodded and slowed down, trying to minimize the wind resistance and keep the ride from being too bumpy.
After a solid half-hour of riding, Richard finally arrived late at Hawkins High School.
Perhaps because she had slept a bit more on the bike, even if it was just a little, Robin felt much better after getting off. She could finally go to class with peace of mind.
Robin suggested they discuss what happened last night after school, and Richard nodded, agreeing to the proposal.
When the two walked into the classroom together, every eye in the room snapped toward them. Seeing a lethargic Robin clutching her lower back while Richard looked as refreshed as ever, their gazes gradually filled with knowing looks.
Richard and Robin both tacitly chose to ignore these stares. They couldn't explain it anyway, so they just quietly found seats in the back row and sat down.
Richard thought he would spend another peaceful day of school life, but unexpectedly, during the third period, Tommy's cronies—the ones who had apologized to Richard yesterday—were suddenly called out of the classroom by the principal. Because he was sitting in the back row, Richard could see several familiar faces passing the back door; they were officers from the Hawkins Police Department.
Richard sighed inwardly, guessing that the incident where he beat up Tommy's gang probably couldn't be hidden anymore. Given that interrogation tactics were pretty standard in this country, those punks with zero mental fortitude were no match for old cops like Hopper. They would surely sell him out before long.
"Are you okay?" Robin asked with concern, noticing Richard's sigh.
"It's nothing, just a minor trouble." Richard shook his head with a smile.
Sure enough, not five minutes later, the principal appeared at the door again, looked at Richard in the back row, and waved: "Richard, please come out for a moment."
Under the surprised gazes of everyone, Richard also walked out of the classroom.
After several such interruptions, the students couldn't help but connect this with the news of Tommy's absence yesterday. They began to gossip fervently, their imaginations running wild as they concocted one conspiracy story after another linking Tommy's hospitalization to Richard...
When Richard arrived at the conference room the school prepared for official visitors, those students who had been called earlier were all standing in the corner. Their eyes darted away, not daring to meet Richard's gaze. Seeing this, Richard shook his head inwardly. He remained composed, looked at Hopper sitting on the sofa, and smiled: "Chief Hopper, we meet again."
"Let's sit down first." Chief Hopper nodded, signaling Richard to take a seat.
Once Richard was seated, Chief Hopper began to speak: "How much do you know about Tommy's hospitalization?"
"Do you mean the fact that he's sick and in the hospital?"
"You know he's not sick."
"Hmm? Wasn't he attacked by a wild animal and got a fright, so he fell ill? Mental illness is still an illness; you can't just ignore it," Richard said with a face full of concern.
Chief Hopper's brow twitched. Looking at Richard's innocent expression, the lips under his thick mustache quirked slightly. This kid wasn't as straightforward as he seemed.
"Do you have any explanation for the injuries on his body?"
"Was he also hurt by the animal? How unfortunate." Richard sighed.
Chief Hopper rubbed his temples, realizing that using the indirect questioning tactic he used on average students and citizens might not succeed easily here. So he simply got straight to the point: "Charlie and Henry have already confessed everything. That afternoon, they and Tommy went to pick a fight with you, and you beat them all up, right?"
"That's incredible." Richard took a sharp breath, his eyes filled with shock.
Everyone present: "..."
Why would this person be shocked by something he did himself!?
They should be the ones who are shocked!
After all, reality wasn't a movie. Richard had fought off nearly ten of them alone; that wasn't something an ordinary high school student could do without a scratch.
But Hopper could also see that this was indeed the truth. When the Hawkins police investigated the woods later, they did find many stones that seemed to have been freshly dug up from the ground, mostly scattered in one area. Combined with the bruises and lumps the accusing students showed to prove their claims, it could be inferred that they were hit by those stones.
Hearing this, Richard knew he couldn't hide it anymore and could only say: "Fine, I did drive them away, but I acted in self-defense. That's justifiable defense."
Hopper shook his head. "Don't worry, I know the root cause of Tommy being sent to the hospital wasn't you, and you indeed had a reason to fight back." His gaze swept over Tommy's lackeys, and the students looked away in fright.
"What I want to know is, do you know what Tommy actually saw that night?"
"Unfortunately, it was too dark that night, and I'm a cautious person. He was bleeding from his head and looked pale—he looked terrible. Out of basic decency, even if he hadn't said to run, I would have left the scene immediately to get him treatment."
Hopper fell silent for a moment. He glanced at the teachers and students behind Richard and suddenly said, "Please step out for a moment. I want to talk to Richard alone."
Soon, all other uninvolved people withdrew, leaving only Richard and Chief Hopper in the room.
Chief Hopper stared directly into Richard's eyes, which were as still as deep water. "Just last night, Tommy suddenly fell into an unexplained coma and hasn't woken up since. The doctors at the hospital say he's in critical condition and might not make it."
"How could that happen?" Richard was first surprised, then serious.
"There are some things I can't say much about. For now, I just want to ask you one thing: did you actually see anything that night?"
"I really didn't see anything that night," Richard said earnestly. He was telling the truth, because seeing the monster actually happened on the second night.
It wasn't that Richard intentionally withheld information, but he was very uncertain whether the people from The Lab were listening to their conversation. Given The Lab's capabilities and background, it would be all too easy for them to plant listening devices around him.
Given the ruthlessness of Dr. Martin Brenner, who currently controlled The Lab, once it was confirmed that Richard might have discovered The Lab's secrets, it would be hard for him not to follow in Tommy's footsteps.
If Richard wanted to survive in this town and continuously benefit from the plot characters, he couldn't always fight alone. At least not now; he needed teammates, especially reliable adults who could serve as backup.
So he needed to explain in a different place.
Richard deliberately coughed a few times, making a sound as if he were clearing his throat. He hurriedly took a tissue from the table and, under Chief Hopper's surprised gaze, wrote the line "Let's talk at your cabin in the woods" with a pen he had on him. He showed it to the other man, then crumpled the tissue and put it in his pocket, planning to flush it down the toilet later.
Though Hopper was suspicious, he also became alert. He cooperated by sighing and said, "Then it seems Tommy was just unlucky and developed internal injuries from the animal. It's a pity we can't find that wild animal for now to give Tommy's family and the townspeople an explanation."
"I'm sorry. If I had been braver that night and paid more attention..." Richard spoke with the saddest tone while maintaining the calmest expression.
Around four o'clock in the afternoon, Chief Hopper, who had been waiting for a long time in front of the cabin Richard had specified, finally saw Richard and Robin arrive together.
As soon as Richard arrived, Hopper, who was nearly driven mad by a head full of doubts, angrily grabbed Richard's shoulder and demanded: "Who exactly are you, and what do you know? Why do you know I have a property in this place?"
"Chief, let's take your questions one by one, shall we?" Richard calmed the agitated Hopper. Seeing the other man slowly restrain his emotions, he spoke slowly, first answering the last question. "The reason I know you have a property here is because I heard it by chance from Benny."
"Benny? Oh, that damn blabbermouth." Hopper immediately cursed, but he felt a bit more at ease.
"As for who I am, I really am just an ordinary orphan. I was lucky enough to get an inheritance, but unfortunately, I didn't inherit much, so I'm just someone who has to work to earn tuition for my future." Richard re-introduced himself. "As for what I know, I can tell you that I do know some things. For instance, what Tommy said that night wasn't a lie."
"You're saying there's a monster?" Hopper found it absurd.
Robin chimed in from the side: "What he said is true. There really is a monster. We saw it with our own eyes yesterday. A pale, hairless creature that looked like something out of a nightmare. It was eating a squirrel alive and was about to attack us, but we fought it off. It might have been burned to death."
"By the way, this is something Hawkins Lab created. I don't know what kind of experiment they're doing, but they actually brought a monster from another dimension here. Isn't that right, Chade?" Robin looked at Richard, and Richard nodded.
Seeing that the other man wanted to ask more, Richard knew that the explanation he gave Robin yesterday might work for her since she trusted him, but it wouldn't be persuasive to Hopper. Before the other man could ask "How do you know all this?", Richard spoke first to shut him up: "If you don't believe us, you have the chance to investigate Hawkins National Laboratory. You're the town's police chief, a man of authority and standing; they wouldn't dare mess with you easily. But for us civilians, it's different. They'll deal with me just like they dealt with Tommy."
"Hawkins National Laboratory..." Hopper's expression shifted uncertainly, and he gritted his teeth with a bit of a headache. It wasn't that he didn't believe Richard's story, but rather that he was already starting to believe it.
After leaving Tommy's hospital room yesterday, the group of men in dark suits who entered afterward was quite suspicious. Thinking of Tommy's sudden critical condition, it indeed seemed like the handiwork of federal agents who would stop at nothing to keep a secret.
Hopper looked at Richard and Robin and said in a deep voice, "If it's true, take me to the place where you fought the monster yesterday. I want to confirm it for myself."