After Chloe and Clark separated.
"I don't know why?"
Chloe complained to Pete, "Ever since Clark joined the football team, he's clearly distanced himself from us. He trusts his coach more than he trusts us, his friends."
"Chloe, didn't you say that as friends, we should be good at inferring and reserving doubt?"
Pete waved and greeted a nearby classmate, then said, "You are good at inferring, and Clark reserves his doubt about you. I think you are friends with great tacit understanding."
"OK, Pete, you really surprised me today. I thought you only remembered your football, women, and comics. I didn't expect you to know Nietzsche."
"Isn't this normal?"
Pete felt scorned. "Just like you, Chloe, occasionally mention the name Arthur Parks, the Laser Man. We're even."
Chloe casually threw her coffee cup into the trash can and asked, "Then do you remember the second half of that sentence Nietzsche said?"
"What?"
"The second half is: Let inference be your sympathy, but you must first know whether your friend needs sympathy!"
Chloe said unhappily, "My inference just now, including suspecting Coach Watt was the murderer, was to prevent Clark from being harmed. Of course, not physical harm, but more mental. But it's obvious, Clark doesn't need my sympathy."
"You sound very hurt, Chloe."
Pete and Chloe walked together into the corridor, squeezing past the crowded lockers.
"Not hurt, just frustrated by not being recognized."
Chloe spoke with the speed of a small cannon, "Principal Guan wanted to investigate the cheating scandal, so the coach burned him to death in the car. He had been yelling at the players in the office because someone betrayed him, maybe that player told Principal Guan about the coach providing test questions for cheating, and then everything makes sense..."
"Hey—hey! Chloe, I have something else to do. Let's talk again this afternoon."
Pete interrupted Chloe's endless speech, patted her shoulder, and ran directly towards a black girl he had just met.
"Phew."
Looking at Pete's back, Chloe sighed dejectedly.
She was a little frustrated that even her friend didn't believe her.
Chloe, feeling depressed, was momentarily lost in thought, then suddenly remembered someone.
Eric Kent!
Eric, completely unaware that he was being thought of, at this moment, his Super Vision penetrated through layers of obstacles and landed on the principal's office.
Inside the principal's office, Principal Morton was discussing yesterday's traffic accident with a reporter.
On Morton's desk was a heavy ceramic ashtray, which he used to hold pipe tobacco. Eric's eyes could even see Rodin's "The Thinker" bust on the ashtray.
"Mr. Morton, I'm very sorry for Principal Guan's misfortune."
The reporter first expressed his condolences to Principal Morton.
"Yes, this is truly a misfortune!"
Principal Morton cleared his throat and said in a low voice, "As assistant principal, Guan's main job was to formulate teaching plans and maintain school discipline. When disciplining students, he always wanted to create an image of a lovable John Wayne (an actor famous for portraying tough guys in Westerns and war films), but his pleasant smile always made people feel out of place."
"Regarding Guan's traffic accident, I'm sorry, I cannot provide you with the information you want. Perhaps you should ask the police; they should know more than I do."
Facing Principal Morton's refusal, the reporter smiled and replied, "I've already spoken with the police, so now I want to talk to you. The police said the person who called was a student from Smallville High School, Eric Kent, I remember that name."
"Eric Kent?"
Principal Morton frowned, smoothed his sparse hair, "Let me think, he's Jonathan Kent's son, isn't he?"
"Indeed."
"When you've been in school for thirty years like me," Principal Morton said with a slight smile, "you see a child who looks familiar, and then you find out his father was one of your first students. That feeling is truly wonderful."
"I want to interview Eric Kent, but before that, I need some information about him, Mr. Morton, can you provide me with his 'credit and evaluation file'?"
The reporter, seeing the principal rambling, directly stated his purpose.
"Credit and evaluation file?"
Morton pondered for a moment, "According to regulations, student files are not disclosed to the public, Mr. Chris."
The reporter, Chris, explained to the principal, "Although my profession is a reporter, it doesn't mean I won't keep secrets. Mr. Morton, I won't disclose any student information; I just hope to learn more about Eric Kent before the interview."
Eric, who was using his Super Vision to peek into the principal's office, heard that the reporter wanted his credit and evaluation file, and his expression became serious.
The credit and evaluation file not only includes personal information such as the student's name, parents, address, and birthday, but also various ability assessment results and all teachers' evaluations of him.
Reviewing the "credit and evaluation file" is a means to comprehensively understand a high school student.
This reporter wants to investigate him?
Which faction?
What is the purpose?
Eric's eyes instantly became sharp.
This reporter is hiding quite a few secrets!
And what he likes to do most is to dig out those bugs hiding in the dark with secrets.
The day's classes quickly ended, and Eric was tidying up his locker after school.
"Hey, Eric, can I talk to you?"
A female voice sounded from behind.
Turning around, it was Chloe from The Torch.
Chloe, facing Eric's cold expression, still couldn't relax as she did in front of Clark. She coughed and said to Eric, "About Principal Guan."
"Principal Guan?"
"I heard that you were the one who called the police at the accident scene. I have some clues here. Maybe if we talk and exchange information, we might discover something new and perhaps identify the murderer who killed Principal Guan."
Chloe said hesitantly.
"You got one thing wrong, Chloe."
"W-what?"
Eric's voice carried a hint of indifference, "I have no interest in who the murderer is, nor any interest in so-called detective games."
"But—"
Chloe said with some incomprehension, "If we can catch the murderer, we can prevent more people from being harmed."
"Sounds good, but that has nothing to do with me."
After saying this, Eric turned and left, leaving the stunned reporter lady standing there.
He still had to investigate that reporter who was courting death, so he had no time to play detective games with Chloe.