Scarecrow of 1889
Chapter 29: Deep into the mind

Chapter 29: Deep into the mind

"Breathe in and out. In and out. Feel the air enter your body and fill your lungs. Let everything fade away around you and only listen to me," Teddy said calmly, easing Sylvester to a half awakened self. After several minutes, he asked, "Can you hear me?"

"Yes," came the feeble voice from Sylvester.

"What is your full name, Sylvester?" Teddy asked.

"Sylvester Crowley."

"Do you have a sibling, Sylvester?"

"An elder sister," Sylvester answered calmly, sinking further into the chair.

"Did you have a good childhood?" Teddy questioned, and Jane waited for the answer to be no.

"I had a wonderful childhood," Sylvester replied with contentment.

Jane wondered if it meant that there was no childhood trauma and if Teddy’s diagnosis was wrong. But then Sylvester’s features began to change, and the air was completely different from what she had witnessed previously.

This time, Sylvester moved his legs closer until his knees touched each other and his hands moved to rest in his lap. His features had considerably softened, as if holding a feminine allure. And maybe if he wore a wig and a dress, he could pass as a female. Everyone gawked at him. How could a person’s physical features change?

"He’s the only one who had a wonderful childhood," Sylvester’s voice changed into a feminine one, which was lower in tone and had a note of sweetness to it that had everyone’s mouth fall wide open.

Addison staggered by this sudden change and so did the Buttons in shock. Did the man possess two voices that no one knew of?

"Who am I talking to?" Teddy asked, intrigued.

"Agnes Holloway," said the woman, tucking a piece of her short hair behind her ear.

"Why did you say only Sylvester had a good childhood?"

"Because we have been in constant pain. All bad memories," she whispered.

Teddy tried to stay unaffected, and he asked, "Agnes, do you know anything about the murders that have taken place?"

Sylvester’s demeanour started to change again. He shifted in his seat, exuding an air of assertiveness and dominance that hadn’t been there before. Then she heard him speak, his voice carrying a distinct Spanish accent.

"Por qué no vamos al grano, Teddy?" he said, his tone smooth and confident. "This whole questioning seems long, and I thought I should appear."

Jane recognised the voice and the style instantly, and she stared at the person sitting on the chair. Noticing how Sylvester Crowley seemed to change in the way he sat and spoke. If he were acting this way purposefully, then he would be the master criminal of the century.

"Hello, Ricardo," Teddy greeted, and Elizabeth wore a confused expression because that was Sylvester and not some Ricardo.

"How are you, amigo? I didn’t expect you to hold a gathering for me," Ricardo said cheekily.

"Pardon me. The detectives said they needed my help and thought to help them," Teddy informed and Ricardo turned to look at the people before his eyes fell on Jane.

"Hermosa," Sylvester spoke. "We meet again, but in a different scene. I hope you have been doing well. Si?"

Jane felt her heart tug at his endearment. She stared at him, feeling her heart race. She murmured, "Si."

The people in the room looked back and forth between Sylvester and the detective standing on the side. Teddy asked, "Do you know about the murders?"

"Si. I can tell in detail what happened," Ricardo knew the people in the room were hanging on every word he spoke. "Finalmente tengo toda tu atencion," he smiled softly and Jane pursed her lips.

Jane stepped forward and asked, "Did you kill those women, Ricardo?" Her question hung in the air, with silence falling in the room. Damn it! Out of all those initial times she wished he didn’t speak, he chose to do it now!

Sylvester was then brought back to his conscious state. He asked, "Did I not fall asleep?"

Elizabeth’s hand covered her mouth in disbelief. She had never imagined something like this could happen. She whispered, "Is it a demon possession?!" Her husband shared her confusion. "Tell me I am not the only one who saw that subtle transformation! It was almost a woman."

"I saw that..." Addison admitted with a baffled expression.

"Saw what?" Sylvester asked puzzled, not knowing what transpired.

"It must be some chemical change in the body..." Teddy tried to guess, because this physical change was something unheard of and he didn’t have a decent explanation for it.

"Is someone going to tell me what is going on?!" Sylvester had begun to freak out, with the way people in the room looked at him.

"Sylvester, you weren’t the one who murdered all those people," Teddy said, and Sylvester lit up like the lights during Christmas. But why were people not happy about it? The man then said, "It is possibly one of your alter egos. A split personality mental disorder, something that has been created from childhood trauma."

"What...?!" It was as if someone threw a bucket of hot water at Sylvester now.

"Oh dear, God!" Elizabeth whispered, staggering backwards, and was quickly supported by her husband. She looked like something had dawned on her mind, and she stared at her younger brother.

On the other hand, Jane knew that many criminals stemmed from backgrounds of abuse or trauma, while others were biologically born with violence.

And to think that the one man who had wooed her relentlessly and believed her didn’t exist. Jane dryly smiled at God’s work here, finding it ironic that the kind of man she wanted didn’t really exist. But what she didn’t understand... was how Sylvester was able to create such a feminine appearance and voice. Was it a skill?

Sylvester realised what the man before him said, and he said in shock, "I killed Mother...!"

"It wasn’t you, my friend. Think of it like a case of sleepwalking," Teddy tried to console him. "You’ll need to convince the court that he committed the acts without conscious knowledge, just as one might unknowingly wander while sleepwalking. Alters emerge because a person suffering from split personality disorder experiences something their mind can’t cope with."

A shocked Sylvester was taken back to his cell along with Teddy, who decided to speak to him in the cell and ease the shock he had received.

When they stepped out of the prison, Addison inquired, "Are you alright, Miss Jane?" He looked worried, because he had heard about her spending time with Mr. Wood. And earlier today, he noticed how the alter ego spoke to Jane with familiarity.

"I am," Jane replied, the surface of her expression strong. "Let us go."

Returning to their office, Jane settled back at her desk, her gaze drifting to the board adorned with photographs and notes, a visual representation of their investigation’s progress. Among the names pinned to the board were Sylvester, Ricardo, and Agnes.

"Milady, Ricardo wasn’t mentioned during my interrogation in Frontier Hall. Did you include him based on other leads?" Addison inquired, his curiosity piqued by the new additions.

But Jane was busy thinking about something before a deep frown appeared on her face. She whispered to herself, "It was right there."

"What was?" Addison pressed, eager to unravel the mystery.

"We’ve been chasing the case with the answers right in front of us. Sylvester Crowley. Crow," Jane revealed, her realisation dawning upon her.

"Yeah... I figured that out once he was locked up," Addison admitted, scratching his head in acknowledgment of their oversight.

"No, not just that," Jane replied, rising from the edge of the desk and walking to the board. She picked up a piece of chalk and turned the blank board around. She then wrote on the board the names— Sylvester Crowley, Ricardo Wood, Agnes Holloway.

Addison watched, intrigued by Jane’s actions, as she drew a straight line.

"It now makes sense of what it is. Look at the last names of each person," Jane pointed out, her voice tinged with excitement as she felt her heartbeat spike. She gestured to Agnes’s name and then the line she had drawn on the board. "Hollow," she said, before drawing a V and an inverted V at the ends of the straight line, "Wood." Next, she drew a bird and said, "Crow," before adding, "There was one alter hiding today... Agnes’s brother, Marcello Hatter, was it?" and she drew a hat.

As she stepped back, Jane stared at her drawing of the scarecrow, the pieces of the puzzle falling into place. She whispered, "They form the scarecrow."

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