Chapter 4 10

This time, Nick quickly regained his sense of direction.He knows this because he has accepted this incredible phenomenon.He still has a metallic taste in his mouth, but it's less pronounced; his skin is still chilly, but overall it's in good shape. He sat on the steps in front of the Marcus house, the door still intact, open to the cool breeze on a warm summer night.Marcus walked out the door, across the front porch, and sat down beside him.His face was pale, and his hands were shaking with horror. The police will be here soon, but Marcus can barely speak because of the plane crash.Everyone went to the crash site to help, so there were only two people left.They said don't touch anything and that you better stay with me.

Nick nodded, keeping his eyes on his room.He knew Julia's body lay there. Nick reached into his pocket, took out the gold watch, and lifted the cover.Although he was mentally prepared for what he would see, Nick was surprised when he saw the clock ticking 7:02.It was exactly two hours before he counted down to nine.The two policemen hadn't arrived, they hadn't arrived at the crime scene, Marcus had just seen Julia's body, and he was still in shock from what he had seen her die. Nick understood that what he remembered had just happened hadn't happened yet.Marcus didn't know that Nick would be arrested later, he didn't know the names of the two policemen, and he didn't know that his gate would be kicked down.But all the steps are clearly visible to Nick.

He was the only one who would go through it all, so he had to do it alone before being thrown back for two hours; because, by the next reversal, he would also be without the assistance of the previous man. He was thankful that it was Friday. On Fridays, he always worked from home and stayed at home all day. He didn't even go out for lunch because he had to finish the analysis report for the week's business trip before the weekend holiday.That way, he'll be back home every time time bounces, giving him ample opportunity to focus on investigating the incident. Nick closed his pocket watch, shook off his thoughts, and stood up.

where are you going?Marcus asked. Nick looked around his room.I have to go there. you want to go back?Marcus exclaimed in horror: No, I don't think this is a good idea. I agree, Nick said, but I have to find out what the hell happened, and I have to get it over with before the police start investigating. they say don't touch anything My wife was killed, Marcus, Nick said, more like explaining the situation than talking to Marcus.I want answers, I want to know who killed it.That's my home, I want to go back. All right!Marcus said reluctantly: But I want to accompany you. Nick started to move, shaking his head and saying: I'll take care of myself.

He spent a lot of time before (strictly speaking, not the past, as far as the current point of time is concerned, that is the future) to convince Marcus of the situation he faced, and asked him to go to Danse to prove that what he said was true.If Nick wants to get Max or anyone to help him, he has to figure out a way to convince them in less than five minutes, otherwise he will waste too much time, the limited twelve hours he used to save Julia will be taken away again. Marcus stayed on the front porch.Please, whatever you want to do, don't look at her, it's not her anymore. When Nick walked across the wide lawn, Marcus' voice gradually disappeared, and Nick's complicated emotions were churning in his heart.He had been given a gift, but he didn't understand what it was, but he didn't intend to waste time thinking about it.The debate about how and why this had happened could last a lifetime, but now he had less than twelve hours left.

As much as he was happy to get a second chance, he was terrified of what he was about to face. He knew what he was going to see.The state of her death is likely to break him down. If he wants to save her, if he wants to find out who killed her, he has to force himself to face her dead body.In order to stop that man, he must gather all the information and investigate every lead. including how she died. Nick forced himself to put Julia's death behind him for a moment.His anxiety, his pain, his grief are all selfish acts, they only hinder him from finding out the truth, this job is extremely difficult, he must try to focus on the truth, all his efforts are to save her from the doom of death , in order to reverse the past and change her future.

Nick crossed the driveway to the front of the white house and passed through the hundred and eleven year old gate. The hallway was dark, with all the lights extinguished by the blackout caused by the crash.He opened the cabinet in the vestibule, took out a large flashlight, flipped the switch, and let out a blinding light.Although the sun had not yet set, the evening sunlight was fading too quickly to provide the illumination he needed. Nick originally considered installing a generator like Marcus did, but later felt that it was a waste of spending 20,000 yuan to buy a generator for the rare power outage that happened once a year, and the power outage would only last for an hour at most.But now, when he was in the house looking for clues as to why Julia had been killed, he would pay twice as much to keep the lights on.

They'll be married eight years in September, and Nick and Julia are dedicating their time to two things: their careers and their relationship.They decided to pay off the mortgage on the house first, so that when they decided to have children, they would not have mortgage stress.They've made a plan, they've drawn a timeline, they've drawn a budget, and they've decided to stick to it.They live like a well-written script, keeping their vacation expenses to a minimum and traveling to Europe, Asia or around the world in their later years.They travel by car whenever they get the chance to take a vacation.Go camping, visit museums, spend the night at the beach.Not only is it the easiest and cheapest way to vacation, it's also the funnest.They both know that a true vacation is not about the location, but the feeling of the heart.These vacations are far more fun than flying to Paris, Monaco, or any foreign country, as long as they can be together.

Their shelves and desks are filled with photos of the two on vacation.Fishing on a lake in Maine, surfing in Huntington, hiking in the Grand Canyon, rock climbing in Wyoming.They like outdoor activities very much. Nature can provide the simplest and most comfortable environment, which makes people feel refreshed. After returning home, they can concentrate all their energy on career development. Although they have only been married for eight years, they have been together for sixteen years.The two dated from high school to university, and when they fell in love at the age of fifteen, their parents and friends laughed at them for believing that they would stay together forever.However, the jeers died down when they said their vows at St Patrick's Church in late May.But they don't intend to say to naysayers; they don't need the affirmation of others, the confidence of relatives and friends, to be sure of what they think is right.

They met at a swimming party.He is a strong swimmer on the school team. In his freshman year, whether it was long-distance or short-distance competitions, he had several record-breaking performances in the school and in the county; Julia was an impromptu substitute for the 200-meter relay As a contestant, although she has participated in short-distance swimming competitions before, it was unexpected for her to be the main force in the 200-meter relay race. The nervousness is not even enough to describe her mood at that time.The coach asked her to talk to Nick, because Nick is the youngest captain in the school. He has a calm and confident temperament and can influence everyone with it.

After Julia sat down, Nick smiled and asked her not to worry, and explained to her that the key to the race is a stable speed, so it is necessary to conserve energy for the final sprint in the next few laps. However, after Julia entered the water, she swam desperately, and by the time she swam the last lap, the air in her lungs was almost exhausted.She never told Nick, or anyone else, that she hadn't actually taken his advice, not a word he had said, because she had been lost in his deep blue eyes, which were far more important than learning. The skill of the game is more attractive. When she touched the finish line, her last breath was exhausted, and she was gasping for breath with stars in her eyes.Standing there, he stretched out his hand and pulled her extremely tired body out of the pool. He pulled her up effortlessly with only one hand, wrapped her in a towel, and led her to sit on the bench.They sat on the bus for three hours before returning home, as the sky turned from dusk to night, and they both lost in the most relaxed conversation they had ever felt in their lives. Nick didn't once ask her why she didn't take his advice, but just turned the conversation on to other things, never mentioning swimming. They both love camping, Led Zeppelin, the New York Giants, and the Detroit Red Wings; both love ribs, fried chicken, Oreos, Coca-Cola; He found it novel and interesting; he loved skiing, music, and she insisted on learning more about his preferences. To put it simply, they are not only a perfect match, but also a perfect match. Over the years, they have developed in different directions.She went to Princeton, he to Boston University.However, their love never faded.In fact, this relationship grew gradually during college, and every year after marriage, the relationship between the two became deeper. It's not like they didn't quarrel.On the few occasions when they argued, the two actually quarreled violently, their love for each other was solid, but so was their willpower to stand their ground.But the reason they disagree is often just about choosing white or whole wheat bread, roses or tulips, and so on. Fortunately, these disputes are not long-lasting, and only a passionate lovemaking can make up. Nick looks out the window of the high-ceilinged great room and sees things left over from last week's get-together with a few friends: chairs strewn by the pool, messy table and barbecue grill that should have been taken out last week Three big bags of garbage thrown away.In this chaos, the swimming pool appeared extremely calm and calm, which was completely different from his current mood. The room looked as neat and tidy as ever, but the paintings against the back wall had been there for more than six months and he had promised Julia that he would hang them up, and the Turkish rug was piled high. There were a lot of newspapers and magazines he hadn't finished reading; the dining room looked the same as usual, with every dinner table being set at the last minute. When Nick looked around the house, he still couldn't imagine that this was just a random killing.He thought to himself, maybe some opportunist wants to take advantage of the chaos to seek property, while everyone's attention is focused on the crash, the whole city will not notice other things, and the police force is extremely weak, just in time to carry out the robbery kill.If he just randomly selected his house, there must be something missing here. It may be an unknown reason that killed her, but it may also be the key to saving her. Nick takes a fresh look at his home, looking for anything out of the ordinary, anything out of order, missing, any clues to why Julia was killed. He opened the hidden sliding door of the study, and took a flashlight to shine around a few times.His study was smaller than Marcus's, more like a den, filled with traces of Nick and Julia's life together.If this room had survived some nuclear bombing and been discovered by archaeologists five hundred years later, they would have been able to paint a picture of Nick and Julia's life with incredible accuracy.The history between them is all on display in locked cabinets full of trophies and medals from swimming and hockey games, which they are embarrassed to display but reluctant to throw away because of nostalgia.There are many photos and memorabilia on the shelves, photos of them at the prom, graduation ceremony and wedding ceremony, they have exaggerated hairstyles, but both have big smiles, dozens of them I took it when I was traveling, and I also took a group photo with my family during the New Year's Eve.But most of the photos are kind of silly and just for fun, some from a snowball fight, some from a carnival, and one with ice cream covering their faces.These are the most defenseless and natural gestures. Nick turned to the mahogany desk, moved the letters and a few piles of files aside, and found his personal phone still on the charger.He picked up the phone and put it in his pocket.He always carries two mobile phones: one for personal use and one for business use, and he deliberately separates the two worlds.Because he works at home during the day, he keeps his personal cell phone on the charger, an arrangement he is now thankful for, because when the police arrested him as a suspect in Julia’s murder, his official cell phone, along with his wallet and The watches were all taken away. Nick squatted down, opened the cabinet behind the desk, and shone the flashlight on the small green safe behind a stack of books. There was no scratch on it, and there was no sign of damage at all. He walked out of the study, the bright flashlight shining on the floor in front of him, and he walked down the stairs to the next floor.The undecorated room is his favorite. It can be temporarily used as a gym. There are treadmills, elliptical cross trainers, indoor bicycles and weights. Whether it's punching bags or lifting weights, this place is like a sort of de-stress sanctuary.Nick's flashlight shines on an old full-length mirror leaning against the wall, and the light bounces off a practice pole fixed to the wall and a mat on the floor.He could vaguely smell the light perfume left over from the last time Julia came here to work out.There is room in the cavernous basement that could be turned into a children's playroom or a home movie theater, but that's a few years away.Now it temporarily serves as a storage room, with boxes of Christmas decorations, forgotten wedding presents and unsorted trash piled in the corner. Nick climbed the basement stairs and continued up to the second floor, hurrying past the room that would become the nursery to the bedroom where he and Julia slept. The cream-colored room has a decorated ceiling and a four-poster bed faces an unlit fireplace filled with summer flowers.Nick checked Julia's bedside table and the small drawers inside, but found nothing strange, nothing had been tampered with, nothing had moved.He checked her wardrobe, then his own, and the cabinet hidden behind the tie rack, but none of them had been touched either.Their bathrooms are the same as when they left in the morning, with towels, toothbrushes and cosmetics all in place.The unused living room still had a thin layer of dust and pollen from the flowers on the fireplace, proving that no one had broken in at all.The sliding door to the small balcony was locked, exactly as it had been since he had left the balcony. Nick walked from room to room, looking for any clues that would lead him to the killer, but it was also at this point that he had an epiphany that although they built a perfect home, every room was furnished and the loan was paid off , many people are envious of their affluent life, however, the most important part is missing here.They put their heart and soul into their work, they work hard to make money, they spend their time in pursuit of material life, but there are no children here.The empty room is waiting for the arrival of the child, but they always think that everything will be ready in another year.Now, Nick is starting to understand that they've been wasting the years, but who's to say that the day will come when everything will be right?Now, all the plans, all the money, are gone Nick finds out they've given up on the most important things in life, but it's too late, unless he can find the clues to kill her and stop the tragedy from happening. Nick took one last look at the bedroom, the only room they used on the second floor of the house.It hasn't been searched, looted, nothing has been tampered with.Even if Julia's murderer had come for something, he was clearly not upstairs. Nick went back downstairs, opened the door, stepped outside into the open garage, and glanced at his eight-cylinder Audi.He was walking in the dedicated driveway, Julia's Toyota Lexus SUV still in place.Nick checked quickly and found that the car door was unlocked and the key was still inserted. Seeing this, he was already sure that this was not a random murder and robbery.No matter how stupid the thief was, he couldn't let go of her fifty thousand dollar luxury car. He walked to the end of the cobblestone drive and stood between the two stone pillars of the entrance, looking down at the skid marks the killer had left on the drive.Although Nick is very smart, he thinks he can piece together the identity of the murderer and save her in time.But he is not a professionally trained police detective after all.The width of the skid marks meant nothing to him, nor could it tell him what kind of car it was; nor could he think of any clues about the driver, nor even some kind of epiphany like it was shown on TV. . He looked around the bend leading to the road. This is the richest part of Barry Hill. The streets nearby are full of small mansions of millionaires. Except for Nick and Julia's home, those mansions are perfect. Lawns and gardens are tended by gardeners.Nick mows the lawn, plants his own flowers, and tends the garden himself.He enjoys sitting on the lawnmower mowing the lawn or digging holes in the yard.Their house was Julia's favorite look growing up, and she used to cycle past this place.This is her dream home and Nick helped her make it happen. He walked back into the driveway and looked at their house, thinking that he had built everything himself; his friends had helped build the extension, and he and Julia had painted it over the weekend.Many of his fondest memories come from the time the two built their house together, laughing at small mistakes, playing paint fights, accidentally knocking fingers, and more.It's such a simple thing, it sounds like a cliché, but it's the quiet time with no distractions, sitting on the floor eating pizza and things like that that he cherishes the most. Nick went into the garage and took a look at his dirty car.He's not one for car washes, and he'd rather have this Audi look a little dirty in the hope that it'll be less noticeable on the street among the shiny BMWs and Mercedes, borrowing This avoids car thieves.It was his way of doing things, and Julia was a bit annoyed by it, but it had proved to be working, so he had no intention of changing it.The car's dark blue exterior was covered in dust and pollen, yet there was a clear handprint on the trunk lid that definitely wasn't his, nor Julia's.That hand was larger, with a thicker palm, and not quite symmetrical. Nick took the key ring out of his pocket, pressed the button on the remote, and opened the trunk lid.When the tonneau cover was opened, he saw the usual clutter: a black duster bought in Wyoming, his best raincoat, jumper cables, a medical first aid kit, two bundles of rope, all for emergencies prepare.His hockey skates, and the hockey jacket he and Marcus had joined the team with, two boxes of golf balls, an umbrella, and one more thing that he didn't put. Nick looked at the murder weapon.This 134-year-old, exotic collector's pistol was the weapon that took Julia's life. Everything is clear now.He'd known this before, but wasn't entirely sure. He was framed. He looked at the pistol and knew there was nothing he could do.He might be able to hide it, but it will be found eventually; he doesn't want it because the two cops said his fingerprints were on the gun, and he thought it was a ploy by the detectives to get him to confess because they didn't have time , There is no manpower to check, but now he doesn't want to automatically print the fingerprints to make them happy. He wiped his hands with a cloth and covered the trunk.It doesn't matter if anyone finds the gun, as long as he can find a way to free Julia there will be no charges against him, no murder investigations, no point in hiding a gun.If he can't save her, he doesn't care what happens to himself. Nick braced himself for the next five minutes.He knew that what he was going to do next might give him a nightmare for the rest of his life, but he still forced himself to face Julia's body. Marcus sat on the front porch doorstep, looking sadly at Nick's house.He watched his buddy walk up and down the driveway after half an hour in the house.He wandered aimlessly, looking around the neighborhood, as if by chance he would run into Julia's killer.When Marcus finished the phone call and went back to the doorstep to look at Nick, he noticed a strange look in his eyes.Although he was quite sad and distressed, he didn't have the expression of extreme pain when he sat next to Julia at first; howling.That was a scene that Marcus would never forget, and it would haunt his thoughts until he died. Marcus' concerns about his friend change, however, when Nick walks away from Marcus and heads to his own house, insisting on investigating a murder he'll never be able to solve. There was something inexplicable in Nick's eyes, some kind of hope he couldn't put into words, nothing like the expression of a man who only a moment ago finds out that his beloved wife has been brutally murdered. For Marcus, there is only one explanation: Nick has lost his mind after seeing Julia's mutilated body. He hid in his imaginary world, and Nick's sanity had been lost. Nick walked out of the garage and into the cloakroom.There are white-painted wainscoting on the walls and earth-toned Spanish ceramic tiles on the floor.This room has shoe cabinets, coat hooks and lockers, all ready for their future extended family.They've talked about how many children they want since their relationship: Nick wants two boys and two girls, and Julia likes three boys and three girls, like on the sitcom "The Brady Family." This is one of the scripts of their life plan. They went to the doctor a year ago to make sure that when the time came, Julia would not have any invisible obstacles. The doctor also laughed at them for being too particular about the details of life plan, asking them Don't worry, their fertility won't let them down.The doctors assured her that when they were ready, as long as she knew what she was doing and worked hard enough, she would be pregnant in no time. When Nick came around the corner, he saw Julia's Tory.Birch shoes stick out from under the back stairs.He walked over slowly, looking up her soft thighs, past the black dress she was wearing to work this morning.He gradually approached, staring at her body step by step, passing over the white shirt that was no longer white, her chest was covered with blood, as if in a blood storm, the shoulders were blood red, and the silk shirt was covered by the puddle under her body. Blood puddles stained red.Nick stared at the circle of blood around Julia's body. He had never imagined that there was so much blood on a human body. But his gaze rested on her shoulder, blocked by the stairs.Nick avoided her face, unable to look at his beloved wife who had been his other half, unable to accept how mutilated her face had become.It seemed superficial to say that, but he couldn't help thinking that when a person's face was destroyed, so was her person.Her identity, her true self, would be taken from her.He kept his head down, searching the ground for any clues that might lead him to the villain who had committed this brutal act. He resisted his emotions, desperately wanting to pull himself away from that moment, trying not to let himself collapse, forcing himself to look at this room and the dead body from the analyst's point of view. Julia's purse was open beside her, its contents emptied on the tiled floor.Usually her purse would hang on a coat hook, the same place Julia would leave it every day when she got home.Because she often forgets where things are put, Nick gently advised her to develop a habit and put things in the same place every day. She has been doing this way for more than a year, and she hasn't even forgotten a day. Nick pulls out a pen and uses it to rummage through her things: her eyeliner, lip gloss, a menu from David Chen's Chinese restaurant, a birthday card from the stationery gift shop and her work ID; a bunch of keys, a piece of paper from her client pass.But three things were missing, things she would never lose.Like most people, these are items she uses regularly: her wallet, cell phone, and her PDA. PDA can not only send and receive e-mails, store phone numbers, record appointments, but also store text data and image files.In other words, this is a small portable computer, an important electronic tool for her work and personal use. Finally, although he tried to avoid it, he saw her face, he saw what was left of her beautiful face, he used to gaze at her beautiful face when she was sleeping, and always looked into the heart of her soul when he hugged her. the window; her left cheek had been blasted off by the gun, her eyes were looking up at the white wall ahead, with skull fragments embedded in it and bullets lodged in the cracked wainscoting. A large cloud of blood cascaded down the wall like a waterfall. Bile rushed up his throat and he was dizzy, and the pain made him sick to his stomach, but it all paled in comparison to the extent of his heartache.His chest seemed to be ripped open, it was hard to breathe, and he couldn't even control his brain. Then his soul cried out, rose from his heart, and flew out of his chaotic and broken mind.The cry filled the room, the whole house.It was the most primitive sound, and the world seemed to hear his cry of pain, and the cry went up to heaven, and his fury and pain reached the ears of God, who hated the devil for taking his wife from his life. He struggled to bring his attention back to what he needed to do next, and it wasn't a grief anyone could bear.He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, hating himself a little for what he was about to do.He opened the phone and touched the camera function button. While tears were rolling down his cheeks, he raised the phone high, trembling all over his body, and had to use his hands to hold it steady; he pointed at the lifeless corpse lying on the ground, and took a picture. next photo. He fell to his knees, holding back his grief, so weak he could barely stand.He leaned back against the wall, trembling all over.All the emotions rushed out.It was ridiculous that he should bet his hopes on the magical powers that strangers told him about.Julia was dead, her lifeless, twisted body lay before him, no miracle could happen, no god could bring her back to life.Her dead body was the indisputable proof that he sat across from her, but he could do nothing but helplessly pursue the miracle. He didn't know how long he sat there, just wallowing in pain, dizzy, trying to pull himself together, to find a reason to live.Suddenly, he found Marcus standing in front of him.Nick looked up at him, more dazed than Julia's blank stare, confused as to where Marcus had come from.But Marcus stretched out his big hand, Lanick got up, and That force was stronger than a slap in the face, and the whole world instantly turned into darkness.What little air remained in his lungs was like ice, and there was only a dead silence in his ears. Nick stood alone in front of the refrigerator in the kitchen, a cold can of Coke in his hand. He couldn't remember when he got up or walked in, but he did remember Marcus leaning down and taking his hand sympathetically. Nick's breathing was unusually heavy, gasping for breath, and his skin felt a tingling sensation.The sight of Julia's broken face and dead body on the ground just now made him so shocked that he forgot where he was for a moment. What happened then defied all logic.She went into the kitchen and looked at Nick, confused by his pained expression. Honey, Julia asked softly: Are you all right?