“Mass hysteria?” Sir Deweyville, who had met many psychiatrists recently, ruminated over the term Klein had said.
Despite their curiosity, his butler, bodyguards, and servants didn’t make a single sound since they had not been given permission by him.
As for Sergeant Gate, he looked towards Klein doubtfully as if he had never heard of that concept.
Klein controlled his habit of tapping the armrest with his fingertips and calmly explained, “Humans can be fooled easily by their sensory organs. Mass hysteria is a kind of psychogenic illness that is a result of tense nerves and other factors amongst a group of individuals as they influence each other.”
The jargon he spewed out confused Sir Deweyville, Sergeant Gate, and the rest, causing them to subconsciously opt to believe him.
“Let me give a simple example of this; this was one of the cases that I previously dealt with, one man held a dinner banquet and invited 35 guests. Midway, he suddenly felt disgusted and puked. After that, he even had severe diarrhea. After a couple times, he began to believe that he had gotten food poisoning. He shared his speculation with the other guests on the way to the hospital.
“In the next two hours, there were more than 30 guests that had diarrhea amongst the 35 guests, with 26 of them experiencing nausea. They flooded the entire emergency room of the hospital.
“The doctors went through a detailed examination and performed cross checks, and they concluded that the very first man didn’t have food poisoning at all. Instead, it was a result of stomach inflammation caused by the change of weather and cold liquor.
“The most surprising fact was that none of the guests who went to the hospital had food poisoning. In fact, not a single one of them was sick.
“That is mass hysteria.”
Deweyville nodded slightly and marveled, “I understand now. Humans do lie to themselves easily. It’s no wonder that Emperor Roselle once said that a lie would become reality once it was repeated a hundred times.
“Officer, how may I address you? You are the most professional psychiatrist I have ever met.”
“Inspector Moretti.” Klein pointed at his epaulet and said, “Sir, your troubles have been resolved temporarily for now. You can try to sleep now while I determine if there are any other problems. If you are able to sleep well, please allow us to bid farewell ahead of time instead of waiting for you to wake up.”
“Alright.” Deweyville massaged his forehead, took his cane, and walked upstairs to his bedroom.
Half an hour later, a police carriage left the fountain at the door of Deweyville’s residence.
When Sergeant Gate got off on the way and returned to his police station, Inspector Tolle looked towards Klein. He complimented in jest, “Even I believed that you were a real psychological expert...”
Before he finished his sentence, he saw the young man in a black-and-white checkered uniform looking expressionless. His eyes were deep and serene as he forced a smirk on his face and said, “I only had some experience with it in the past.”
Inspector Tolle fell silent until the carriage arrived outside 36 Zouteland Street.
“Thank you for your assistance, allowing Sir Deweyville to be finally free from his problems and be able to find sleep again.” He extended his hand and shook Klein’s hand. “Thank Dunn on my behalf.”
Klein nodded slightly and said, “Alright.”
He went up the stairs and returned to the Blackthorn Security Company. He knocked and entered the captain’s office.
YOU ARE READING
Lord of the Mysteries (P1)
Mystère / ThrillerWith the rising tide of steam power and machinery, who can come close to being a Beyonder? Shrouded in the fog of history and darkness, who or what is the lurking evil that murmurs into our ears? Waking up to be faced with a string of mysteries, Zho...