When he woke up the next morning, Jude sat in a daze for a long time and had to think about what had happened last night . The stomach's pain was much better and the boy's voice was no longer heard, but he couldn't feel any better . His senses were still in limbo . Because of the words he threw up against that platinum-haired young man last night .
-That wasn't supposed to be the case .
No way, does that mean you killed the owner of that voice? Before you turned 10? He observed his remarks quaintly from the perspective of a third party, and Jude slightly narrowed his eyebrows . It didn't matter what the past was . Forgetting meant it wasn't such a warm memory, and he didn't mean to open such a troublesome Pandora-like box . However, the story is different if one is reeling from the words that ring one's head regardless of one's intentions . Whether he like it or not, part of his nerves are dragged to it . Trying to focus on the small TV -
" . . . . . . who is it? What nurse tuned to the food channel in a patient’s room . " -Jude picked up the remote control .
TtokTtok, Jude put the remote control down for a moment and looked at the clock . 9:30 am . Tim was going to come at 10:30 am, so it's still an hour early . Is there anyone else coming? It’s the morning of the holiday, so he shook his head to deny the possibility, and Jude briefly said, “Come in . ”
It was a middle-aged woman and a young man who appeared as the door opened . Who are they? I don't remember them . The middle-aged woman greeted Jude, as he was looking at them with his eyebrows squinted for a moment .
"Hello, Detective . Nice to meet you . "
"Oh, yeah . . . . . . Excuse me, who are you?"
Judging from what they call him, are they even the victims of the case? But he didn't remember meeting them face-to-face . The pale face, the fluffy gray hair, the shaded cheeks and from the hazy lips alone could be guessed that she had had a long sleepless night . The youth seemed much healthier, but the eyes were still a bit red . He patted the middle-aged woman on the shoulder once, and she forced a smile as she held her hands together .
"I'm Mary Hawks, and this is my son, Kane Brown . "
"Oh, if it's Brown . . . "
"Yes, Linda Brown, we're her family . "
He couldn't think of anything to say right away, and Jude shut up for a moment . Linda Brown . A 25-year-old woman, a co-worker who worked for the same company as Alvin Jones . And she was one of the seven bodies found in Alvin Jones' basement .
"Well, may I sit down?"
"Sure . "
Even after sitting down, she remained silent for a long time, holding her son's hand tightly with the face of a person who was having a hard time trying to digest the bitterness inside . Once the cool-looking man called his mother in a low, soft voice, she barely raised her head and smiled at Jude .
"I'm sorry, when you're in the hospital and coming all of a sudden like this . "
"No, it's not a serious illness, so I don't mind, but for what . . . . . . . "
"I saw it in the papers and in the news, that, Detective caught him . "
"Yeah, a few months ago . "
He couldn't figure out what the middle-aged woman was trying to say . Now, months later, why did she come to see him? Mrs . Hawks, looking straight at Jude, spoke slowly .
"Can't you catch him again?"
" . . . . . . . . . yeah?"
A half-baked answer went round, but the woman persisted .
"I heard from the police, when the investigation went wrong, that, Detective found out where he was . Could you do the same thing again? For Linda's sake . . . "
Trying not to give a fake smile, Jude opened his mouth with a serious voice as possible .
"Well, ma'am, I'm not fully involved in the Alvin Jones investigation right now . There are far more capable FBI agents chasing him than I am, and the best profilers are working with them . The quietness of the media does not mean the investigation has been suspended . And, why would you want me to . . . . . "
"Oh, because it's been half a year!"
The woman’s voice rose out of the blue . The sudden hostility caused Jude to close his mouth and look at her . Without erasing the anger that appeared on her face, the woman spoke sharply .
"Think about it, Detective . Half a year, it's already been seven months! By the way, those FBI agents you say are capable, are running after one person, you know . I called them dozens of times, and they repeated without mistake that they couldn't tell me what happened because the investigation process was strictly confidential . For over six months! They don't know anything, even a lady who's not very smart can tell . That's why I came to see you, with hope . "
"Ha, I don't know, ma'am . Even if you say so, I'm just a detective . . . "
"No, Detective caught him because you’ve got the ability . You knew where he was going . I don't think it's going to be impossible again . I'll pay you as much as I can . . . . . "
"Wait, wait, ma'am . "
One hand was waving to stop the woman's words, and Jude shrugged in a truly discomfiting mood . He had a gut feeling that it would be hard to convince her . However, he listened quietly to her and couldn't even nod his head to say yes or no .
"If it had been so easy, I would have already done it when he escaped in the early days . The FBI has a lot of manpower, including the intelligence network . If even they are struggling, then it's impossible for me to handle it alone . "
"But you're a cop . You can get information from the FBI, and you can catch him based on it . . . "
"Look, FBI is not a very open organization . Like I told you, I'm just a detective at the New York Police Department, and no matter how I cooperated to arrest Alvin Jones, I'm not someone they're going to tell everything so easily, and I have a lot of other cases coming in front of me . I'm no different from a component in a big organization, ma'am . I'm not the kind of guy you're hoping for . "
"Oh, Detective, please, I . . . "
Tears filled the hopelessly distorted blue eyes . As her pale lips were shaking, she opened her mouth, with tears dripping over her hands . The tired voice was trembling uneasily with grief, its depth unknown .
"Linda . . . I'd never slept comfortably since Linda disappeared . . . I was nervous that she'd never come back after reporting her disappearance, hoping that she'd come back, and then suddenly I got a call that a man named Alvin Jones was caught, and that Linda was in his basement . I'd rather she had died a little less painful . . . "
The precariously shaken voice disappeared for a moment . Shaking her head several times, she swallowed the tears in her throat, but the woman finally threw up her broken voice as if she had given up holding back . Her voice was a mixture of anger and sadness .
"Do you know how she died? From head to toe, there was nothing intact, and the police said she suffered in the basement for at least three days until she died . She's never done anything to anyone in her life . . . . !"
A sob broke out . With a short sigh, Jude glanced at the TV that was still on . The jolly-faced cook - he didn't know if he was really enjoying it or pretending to be amused - was explaining how to bake salmon in the oven . That cook won't turn around and explain how he can get over this situation . Tim’s absence was truly pressing .
As he looked back at the woman in a difficult way, the young man who was comforting her by sweeping her back helped her get up from her seat . The young man, who took his crying mother out as if the dam had collapsed, returned to the hospital room about two minutes later . He smiled at Jude, who looked blankly at him, and sat down where his mother had just sat . Looking at the tired-looking young man for a moment, Jude asked him a question .
"Is your mother all right?"
"Yes . I left her with the nurses, so she'll settle down soon . Please don't blame her too much, she’s still so heartbroken . ”
"No, I understand . "
He had seen a number of families of victims, so this is understandable . Whether he could sympathize with it was a separate matter, but Kane, who bit his lips while scratching his cheek several times, turned to Jude with his dark brown eyes . It's a similar color to Tim’s -- thinking inside, Jude looked into his eyes .
"Linda . . . . . . Linda liked him . I don't know how that could have been . "
"Oh, did she?"
He thought he heard such a woman when he was talking to Alvin . With a small nod, Kane nervously touched his forehead .
"Since the first time she saw him, she’s been talking too much about how cool he is, how nice he is, how she feels he already has a girlfriend . On the day when he promised to go out for dinner together, she even called me and said she likes him . …… . . Oh, God, if I knew he was a psycho like that, I'd never . . . "
" . . . . . . well, I'm sure he looks fine . It's not something you can blame your sister for . "
"I know, I know, but . . . . . Detective, how could a man do such a thing? Who the hell was he? I was so curious about that, that I often woke up while I was sleeping . . . . . . . . who could do such a thing to the same person? Was there any clue?"
"No, well, if I have to tell you, I would say that he looked really normal . I haven't talked to him that much either . Just think of him as a madman, and if you understand that, you're in danger too . "
"Is that so……"
With a long sigh, Kane nodded . Looking at the floor of the hospital room as though he was pondering something for a moment, Kane soon rose from his seat, smiling faintly .
"Well, I'll be on my way . I'm sorry to come here when you're sick . Well, if you feel like doing me a favor, feel free to contact me . I'll leave my business card here . "
"Oh, yes . Please tell your mother not to expect too much . "
" . . . . . . okay . Then I'll get going . "
Leaving a bitter smile, Kane left the hospital room . Until Tim came back through the door, Jude was disappointed that there was no beer while watching the sport channel on TV .
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login