Chapter 18 Chapter Seventeen

At about eleven o'clock the next morning, Xiao Rui appeared in the library with his coat buttoned up crookedly, shaking his hiking backpack in one hand, smelling sour of Guinness and smoke, and still staggering.Uh, he shook his body slightly, looked at the four of us, and said: Hello, hello, hello. Where did you go?Daniel gritted his teeth and said, his tone was tense and angry, and he barely concealed it.He was obviously more worried about Xiao Rui than he looked. Here, there, Xiao Rui said to him: walk around.howare you guys? We thought something was wrong with you, but Justin couldn't hold down the volume and asked sharply: Why don't you call?Not even a text message?

Xiao Rui turned to look at Justin.I'm very busy, he thought for a while and said: And I don't want to call.A student looked up from the pile of philosophy books with a hiss.This guy is one of the bunch of idiots in the library who call themselves noise pickets. What bad time did you pick?Abby said coldly: This is not the time to pick up girls, I thought you should know. Xiao Rui leaned back slightly, and gave Abby a bitter look.Fuck you, he replied aloud, in a condescending tone, I decide what to do when I want to. Don't talk to Abby like that again.Daniel said, with complete disregard for the volume.The noise pickets in the library all booed.

I pulled Xiaorui's sleeve and said: Sit down and talk to me. Lacey, Xiao Rui recognized me, his eyes were bloodshot, and his hair should be washed.I really shouldn't have left you home alone, should I? It's okay, I said: I'm fine.Would you like to sit down and tell me how your night was? Xiao Rui stretched out her hand and slid her fingertips across my cheeks, throat and the collar of my jacket.Abby stood behind Xiao Rui, and I saw her eyes widen, and Justin trembled in the booth.Hey, you are so caring, Xiao Rui said: In fact, you are not as weak as you look, right?I sometimes feel like our personalities are the exact opposite of what we look like.

Just finished speaking, the noise picket has already found Etila.Altera is the most violent guard in the universe. He obviously did this job in the first place to twist the heads of villains, but there are very few villains in the average university library, so he had to take the freshman who didn't know what was going on. The operation made them cry and they talked about masturbating.Is this kid harassing you?Attila asked me.He wanted to overwhelm Xiao Rui with his aura, but the huge difference in height between the two made him suffer a lot. The confrontation just now disappeared in an instant, and Daniel, Abby, and Justin immediately calmed down and put on a calm demeanor. Even Xiao Rui straightened his back, took his hands away, and expressed a relaxed and sober expression.fine.Abby said.

I'm not asking you, Attila said to her: Do you know this kid? He is asking me.I smiled like an angel and said: Well, Mr. Guard, he is actually my husband.I got a restraining order before, but now I regret it, and I am planning to go to the women's bathroom to get a good shot.Xiao Rui covered her mouth and snickered. Men are not allowed to enter the women's restroom, and Attila said viciously: You are disrupting order by doing this. Don't worry, Daniel said, getting up.He grabbed Xiaorui's arm with one hand, and his demeanor seemed relaxed, but I found that he was holding his fingers tightly.We're just leaving, five of us.

let me go.Xiao Rui was furious and wanted to shake off Daniel's hand, but Daniel grabbed him and hurried past Etila and walked out along the aisle of bookshelves without looking back to see if we were following. We hastily packed up our things, listened to Attila's vicious warning, left the library hastily, and met Daniel and Xiaorui in the hall.Daniel hooked his fingers around the car keys and Xiao Rui leaned against the pillar with a sullen expression on his face. Well done, Abby said to Xiaorui: Really, it's classic enough. Don't start again. What are we doing now?Justin asked Daniel, he held his and Daniel's things worriedly, and felt that he could no longer bear it.You can't just leave.

Why not? The scene was surprised and silent for a few seconds.Our routines are so fixed, it feels like a law of nature, and I don't think any of the five of us thought it could be broken at any time.So what are we going to do?I asked. Daniel tossed the key in the air and caught it.Going home to paint the living room, he said: "We've been in the library for too long, and it would be better for everyone to do some housework." Daniel's proposal must have sounded weird to outsiders, but I heard Frank say, "Oh my God, they're so bullshit, how can you stand it?"But everyone agreed, even Xiao Rui nodded in agreement after a while.

I found Hawthorn House to be their safe haven, and whenever there was tension, someone would turn the conversation to which part of the house needed tidying or repairing, and everyone would calm down.I figured we'd be in big trouble when the house was done and there was no more grout to paint or stubborn floors to clean. This trick really worked.We covered the furniture with rags and opened the windows to let a cool breeze into the living room.We work hard in rags and pants, smell of paint, jazz is playing in the room, the thrill of skipping class is simmering, the house is as comfortable as a well-loved cat, it's all we need .After we painted the living room, Xiao Rui became gentle and kind, no longer covered in thorns, and Justin and Abby started bickering in a relaxed mood, constantly debating about Joplin (Editor's Note: Scott Joplin, 1867︱191 Seven, known as the king of Regtime. Regtime is the predecessor of jazz. It was considered a vulgar music at the beginning, but it had a great influence on later generations.)’s jazz piano is not bad, and the five people are in a much better mood.

I need to take a shower first.I said. Let Xiao Rui go first, Abby said: because he needs it most.Xiao Rui made a face at Abby.We sat spread out on the dust sheet, admiring our handiwork, lazy to move. After the paint dries, Daniel says, you have to decide what to put on the wall, or not to put on it. I found a couple of very old tin signs, Abby said: right on the top floor vacancy I don't want to live in a bar in the 80s.Xiao Rui said.Either he was over his hangover, or the smell of paint got the four of us too excited to pay attention to his tone.Isn't there a painting or something more normal?

The rest of the paintings are horrific.Daniel said.He was leaning back against the edge of the couch, his hair and old checkered shirt stained with white paint, and I hadn't seen him so at ease in days.A country scene or something, with deer and hounds, and it wasn't very good, probably by some aunt who thought she had an artistic talent, I think. You are so heartless, Abby said to him: things with sentimental value don't need artistic value, it's better to be garbage, otherwise it's just showing off. We could use old newspapers, and I lay in the middle of the floor with my feet dangling in the air, inspecting the fresh paint on Lacy's work pants.

The very old ones, the ones with the Dean quintuplets coverage and the weight-gain commercials.We could plaster the entire wall and varnish it, like the photo on Justin's door. That's the bedroom, Justin said: the living room should be classy, ​​with style, not advertising. Well, Xiao Rui propped himself up on one elbow, and said for no reason: I realize that I should apologize to you.I shouldn't have disappeared suddenly without letting you guys know where I was.My only excuse, though not very good, is that I was pissed off that the cops let that guy go.sorry. Xiao Rui is so cute, he is sometimes so cute.Daniel nodded sternly at him, you're an idiot, I said: but we love you just the way you are. Never mind, Abila stretched out to get his cigarette from the poker table and said: I'm not very happy that guy got away with it. you know what i thinkXiao Rui said: I wonder if Ned hired him to scare us. The living room was suddenly silent.Abby was halfway through the cigarette, her hand still on the box, and Justin was about to stand up, but his body froze. Daniel snorted.I very much doubt that Ned has the brains to plan such a complicated matter.He said in a bitter tone. I was about to ask who is Ned?Just shut your mouth tightly.Not just because I obviously should know, but because I do know.I wanted to kick myself for not finding out sooner.Frank always liked to call people he didn't like, like Adam or Little Sam, but it never occurred to me that he might be mistaken, what an idiot.Ned is the slow doctor Edward.This guy was wandering the lanes late at night looking for someone, and said he had never seen Lacey before, and he was N.I bet Frank heard my heart pounding on the microphone. It's hard to say, Xiao Rui lay back with his elbows on the ground, looked at the wall in a daze and said: After the construction here is finished, we really should invite him over for dinner. Unless I die, Abby said, tensely.You don't have to deal with him, we do. Me too, Justin said: the guy is so cheesy, drank Heineken all night and kept murmuring, it's funny to himself, talking about suit counters and tax cuts and what the law, that kind of thing Once is enough, thank you. You people are heartless, said Ray to them: Ned loves this room, he told the judge himself, and I think he should be given a chance to know that the family legacy is well preserved.give me a cigarette. Ned had only one thing on his mind, and Daniel said sharply: to turn this area into six complete commercial apartments for future development.Unless I die, he will never see the apartment in his life. Justin shivered suddenly, then reached out and pushed the ashtray in front of Abby to cover it up.There was a silence in the room, and the atmosphere was complicated and sharp.Abby lit a cigarette, threw out the match, and threw the cigarette case to Xiao Rui, who caught it with one hand.None of the five people looked at each other.An early wasp came in crookedly through the window, flew over the piano against the setting sun, and staggered out again. I want to say something because it's my job to defuse embarrassment, but I know we've entered a dangerous and complicated swamp where a slight misstep can lead to big trouble.Ned came across as more and more super-dumb, and even though I didn't know what a business apartment was, I could hear what Daniel was saying, but things were decidedly deeper and darker. Abby was smoking a cigarette, staring at me calmly and curiously with a pair of gray eyes.I looked back at her in pain, there was no need to pretend at all.After a while, Abby reached for the ashtray and said: Since I can't find anything suitable to put on the wall, I think maybe I can find another way.Xiao Rui, if we find a photo of the previous wall decoration, can you imitate it? Xiao Rui shrugged, don't blame me, the provocative expression slowly returned to his face, and the black cloud that was about to explode once again enveloped the whole room.Silence was just right for me, and my head kept turning, not just because Lacey was dating her sworn enemy, but also because Ned was clearly a taboo subject. In the three weeks I've been in the house, I've never heard his name, and it's beyond my comprehension that it's finally mentioned, and it's causing everyone such a headache.He was a loser after all, because the forest house fell into Daniel's hands in the end, Simon Bogong and the judge decided so. At most, he can make people laugh in this family, and just make a few ridicules, it won't be so serious.I really want to know the reasons behind it, and I am even willing to exchange my organs, but I know that no matter what, I can't ask. As it turned out, I didn't have to worry about it at all.Frank's mind (I don't know if that's a good thing) is the same as mine, and fast. That night, I went out for a walk very early.Not only did the dark clouds in the house not dissipate, but they kept approaching from the walls and ceiling, getting thicker and thicker.Dinner was miserable, and Abby, Justin, and I tried to find something to talk about, but Ray was blatantly sullen, and Daniel was so absorbed in his own world that he simply answered questions.I had to leave the house to think properly. Lacey and Ned had met at least three times, and had gotten into serious trouble.The four major motives for killing: desire, interest, hatred and love, I intuitively think it is desire.The more I got to know Ned, the more it seemed impossible for Lacey to have sex with anyone other than him.As for the benefits Lacy needs money, and fast, and if she decides to steal Hawthorn House antiques, rich boy Ned is clearly a better buyer than Naylor and his crappy job.If Ned meets her to discuss what he wants and how much he's willing to pay, things go wrong That night was very strange, the wilderness was vast and dark, the wind was strong, and the wind swept across the mountainside and howled, the sky was full of stars, but there was no moonlight.I tucked the pistol back into my waistband and climbed up to the tree where I sat for a long time, noticing the dark shadows emerging among the bushes below, listening for strange movements, and thinking of calling Sam. Finally, I called Frank.Naylor hadn't shown up yet, he didn't say hello, and went straight to the point.Are you careful? Yes, I said: but didn't see him, at least I didn't. Well, Frank sounds nonchalant, and I know he doesn't care about Naylor either.That's good.By the way, there is something that you might be interested in.Your buddies scolded Cousin Edward and the business apartment in the afternoon, remember? My whole body woke up suddenly, and then I remembered that Frank didn't know N, so I relaxed.Remember, I replied: Cousin Edward sounds so weird. Hey, yeah, a 100% brain-dead yuppie bitch, all he has in his head is his wallet. Xiaorui thinks he hired Naylor, do you think so? Impossible, Xiao Ai never messes with inferior people.You should have seen the look on his face when he noticed my accent, like I was going to hit him or rob him of his money.But your conversation this afternoon reminded me, remember when you said that the way the Fab Four treated the house was weird?He looked like he was holding on. Oh, I said: remember.Actually I almost forgot, but I guess I was overreacting.People pay a lot to a place, so they will naturally stick to it. Besides, this house is really good. yes!Indeed, Frank snorted and laughed, which made me slightly alert, it should be.Anyway, I'm bored today, Naylor is nowhere to be found, and the girl who is Lacey or Melus or Princess True and False hasn't made any progress, I've checked fourteen countries and found nothing, which makes me think who she might be Mad Scientist's 1997 work, Born from a Pod.Anyway, just to prove that I trust baby Kathy's instincts, I called my friend at the Land Registry and asked him to look up Hawthorn Grove House.Baby, who do you think loves you more? you.I said.Frank had friends everywhere, no matter what the odd place: my friends at the docks, my friends at city council, my friends who sold bdsm stuff, my first undercover as Lacy, my A friend helped Lacey make a note so that no one would be suspicious and follow up.My friend with a van helped me move my belongings to a one bedroom apartment.I figured I'd better not figure out the complex transactions behind it.You'll love me even more when I'm done with the case.And then? Remember when you said that they all regarded the house as their own home? Well, it should be. Your instincts are absolutely right, baby.They are so, and so are you. Stop kidding, old Fa, I said.My heart beats heavy and slow, and strange shadows quiver between the hedges: something has happened.what do you want to say in the end? Old Simon's will was authenticated on September 10, and Daniel officially inherited Hawthorn Forest House. On December 15, the house transitioned to the names of five people: Xiaorui, Lacey, Justin, Daniel and Abby.merry christmas. I was overwhelmed by such sheer courage.How strong trust is needed, to put the future on words, not to keep it temporarily, to grab all the tomorrows, and carefully but desperately hand them into the hands of the person you love the most.I think of Daniel sitting at the table with his white shirt propped up by his back, turning the pages of the book neatly and precisely, Abby flipping the bacon in her bathrobe, Justin humming in tune before going to bed, Xiao Rui lying lazily on the grass and squinting. staring at the sun.I had envied them before, but not just envy, but awe. Then it dawned on me that about N and the airfare and Ned had nothing to think about unless I died.What did I do with music boxes and tin soldiers before, and I even thought about the value of ordinary family albums.I always thought Lacy had nothing to sell, until now. If Lacey really consulted with Ned, Mamma Mia was discovered by others.No wonder the atmosphere in the room dropped to freezing point as soon as his name appeared in the afternoon.I can't breathe just thinking about it. Frank was still talking, and I heard his movements, hurrying up and down the room.The exchange of official documents takes several months, and Xiao Dan should apply as soon as he gets the key.I know you like them, Kathy, but please don't say it's no surprise.The house might be worth two million pounds, at least.What is that kid thinking?Are they going to live together forever, a happy hippie village?To be honest, it doesn't matter what he thinks, the point is what is he thinking? Frank cared because he didn't see this.He searched everywhere, but only missed these middle-class students who were eating and playing.yes!I replied cautiously: it is very strange.But they're to blame, Frank.Then if someone wants to get married or something, it's going to be complicated, and that's true.But like you said before, they were young and didn't think so far. Well, that's right.At least our little Justin won't be getting married soon unless there is a big change in government legislation! Be less stuffy, Frank, does it matter?This does not mean that the murderer was one of them. The current evidence still points to Lacey being killed by someone outside the house. We can't even say that she really wanted to sell the property rights.Maybe she backed off after she made a deal with Ned, and said she decided to back it, or maybe Lacey was just playing, out of hatred, setting a trap out of resentment for his wanting to take the house. remember.How would he react if he found his dream close at hand, within reach, and Lacey snatched it away?I deliberately ignored the diary, ignoring those dates, N showing up a few days after Lacey's menstrual event, and the handwriting she wrote so hard that the refill almost pierced the paper, which meant she was not playing. Well, Frank replied lazily, I know that this is the moment when he needs to be alerted the most. If you ask me, I would say that this may be the motive of the crime.So for me, yes, it's important. No, I retorted immediately, maybe a little too eagerly, but Frank didn't say anything.I said: impossible.How can there be any motive?If they all wanted to sell and Lacie was the only one who wouldn't, then maybe it was still possible.But now the four of them are unwilling to sell the house even if their teeth are pulled out with pliers. What good is killing her? As long as one dies, no matter who it is, his share will belong to the other four.Some people may think that the house is so good, it is better to take a quarter instead of sharing it with five people.This sort of ruled out the possibility of A Dan being involved in the case. If he wanted to monopolize the case, it would be better not to transfer it at the beginning.But besides him, we also have three little boys. I leaned on the branch and turned to the other side, secretly glad that Frank was wrong, but also inexplicably angry, wondering how he was so wrong.for what?I said they don't want to sell, they want to live.No matter what fraction they own, they can do it.Do you think Ray or Justin wanted Lacey's room and killed her? Or Abby.She's a good girl, but I wouldn't rule her out.Maybe it had nothing to do with money at all, and someone was driven crazy by Lacey.When several people live together, it is inevitable that they will step on landmines.And don't forget, Lacey probably fucked one of the guys, and we all know how messy it is.If it's just renting a house, it doesn't matter, everyone quarrels, sheds a few tears, holds a meeting, one of them moves out, and that's it.But what if she owns the house too?There's no way they can get rid of her and I don't think any of them can afford her Of course, I said: It's just that I haven't felt a trace of hostility towards me.Xiao Rui was very angry with me at first, because I didn't know how hard they were hit, but that's all.If Lacey made the opponent so angry that he killed him, I couldn't feel it.These guys like each other, Frank, they may be weird, but at least they like weird together. Then why didn't they tell us that the house is theirs?If there is no secret, why are they so mysterious? They didn't say because you didn't ask.If it were you, even if you knew you were as innocent as a baby, would you tell the note everything?Even if it's not necessary?Would you spend hours answering questions like they did? Do you know who you talk like?Frank paused for a while before speaking.He has stopped, you talk like a defense lawyer.I spun around to the other side again, put my feet up on the branch, restrained myself from sitting still, and said, Come on, Frank, I talk like a detective, you're the fucking paranoid.It doesn't matter if you hate the four of them, but if you think they are serious suspects, that's fine too.But that doesn't mean that if you find any clues, it proves that they are ruthless murderers. Baby, I don't think you have any qualifications to question my lack of objectivity.Frank said, the laziness in his tone appeared again, and my back leaning against the tree trunk tensed up. What do you mean by that? It means I'm an outsider, with my own perspective, and you're buried in things, and I want to remind you of that.Also, this also means that I don't think it can be used all the time, whoever calls them a bunch of cute rebellious kids is an excuse, they are obviously weird to the extreme. What are you talking about, Frank?You were the one who kept them out from the start and stuck to Naylor like a rash two days ago I still am, as long as I find that little bastard, I still won't let him go.But I like to spread the risk and not exclude anyone, no matter who, until I am 100% sure that he is not involved in the case.These four haven't, let's not forget that. I've been outside too long.Well, I said: Well, I was staring at them before Naylor showed up. You do it, and so do I.Also, be careful with yourself, Kathy.Not only outside the house, but also inside the house.See you tomorrow.He hung up after speaking. The fourth motivation, love.I suddenly remembered a mobile phone video.That was last summer, the five of them had a picnic in Bray Montenegro, lying on the grass drinking red wine from plastic cups, eating strawberries, and chatting about whether Elvis Presley was too real.Daniel kept talking about the social and cultural context, Xiaorui and Lacey thought that everything in the world was overrated, except Elvis Presley and chocolate, so they started throwing strawberries at Daniel.They pass camera phones back and forth, the footage shaky and intermittent.Lacey rests her head between Justine's legs and Justin sticks daisies behind her ears; Lacey and Abby sit back to back looking out to sea, hair blowing, breathing slow, shoulders heaving together; Lacey grabs a daisy from Daniel's hair Ladybug looked up and smiled at him, Daniel bowed his head and smiled back.I have watched this video hundreds of times, and it feels like my own memory, flickering and sweet.They were happy, all five that day. I saw that love, between them, was as simple and real as bread, and it felt real with a bit of warmth, and it was easy to be in it and breathe.But Lacy was ready to blow everything up.Not only willing, but desperate. The angry handwriting on the calendar is compared to her laughing and coming down from the attic in the video, covered in dust.Had she lived another two weeks, everyone else would have woken up to find her gone without a message, without a goodbye, without a moment's hesitation.It suddenly occurred to me that Lacie was a dangerous person, hiding behind a bright exterior, and perhaps always had been. I left the tree, clutching the trunk with both hands, and landed on the road with a thud.I put my hands in my pockets and started walking because moving helps me think.The wind tugged at my hat, poured into my back, and nearly knocked me off my feet. I need to talk to Ned, and fast.Lacey forgot to give me instructions on how the two connected.Obviously not a mobile phone, Sam obtained her contact records from the beginning, and did not make or receive unknown calls.With carrier pigeons?Put a note in a hollow tree trunk?Wolf smoke? I am pressed for time.Frank didn't know that Lacey had seen Ned, or that she was about to leave.I knew I'd find a good reason later that I shouldn't have let him know about the diary.As he always said, intuition always runs faster than the head.But Frank wouldn't miss it, he'd bite like a pitbull, and sooner or later he'd see the possibility.My knowledge of Ned is limited, but it is enough for me to be sure of one thing: as long as he is brought into the interrogation room and faced with Frank, who is doing his best, he will definitely surrender within five minutes.Without even thinking about it, I knew that I must not sit idly by and let things happen like this.Regardless of the situation at hand, I have to stay one step ahead of Frank. What should I do if I'm going on a date with Ned, but no one else can find out? Impossible to call.The mobile phone has contact records, and the bills will be listed one by one. It is impossible for her to be so careless. Besides, there is no phone at home.There is no public phone within walking distance near the forest house, and it is very risky to call at school, because only the humanities college's phone is close enough to use the toilet to cover up, but as long as other people happen to come out, it will be ruined, and dating is not a child's play .It was impossible to find the other party, because Frank said that Ned lived in Bray and worked in Killini, and it was impossible for Lacey and Zhao to go back and forth without being noticed by others.Letters or emails were out of the question, because she would never, never leave a trace. Miss, how on earth did you do it?I asked Sora softly.I felt like a light flashed across my shadow, Lacey raised her chin slightly and gave me a mischievous glance: I won't tell you. I don't know when it started, I no longer pay attention to how close they get along.Go to school together, go to the library together, smoke with Abby at noon, smoke with Xiaorui at four o'clock, eat at one o'clock at noon, and go home to cook dinner together, as precise and fixed as "Golden Harvest Dance Music", with no difference, and no whereabouts are unknown. There is no second of your own, except Except now, for an hour at night, like a cursed girl in a fairy tale, I break free from other people and become myself again.If I were Lacey, and I wanted to meet someone I shouldn't, and contact him, I would definitely choose a late-night walk. It's not that I will choose, but I chose.For the past few weeks, I've used that gap to call Frank or Sam in case my identity is revealed.A fox, slender and bright-eyed, sent shivers down my spine as it skittered down the path in front of me and disappeared into the hedge.I've always thought of myself as a wary, methodical, groping solitary in the dark, with all my clever ideas my own invention.But when I look back now, I realize that I was happily walking in her footsteps all the way, but I didn't know it. so what?I said loudly provocatively: so what?That's why Frank sent me undercover, to get close to the dead, to walk into her life.Here it goes, I did it.Detecting homicides is inherently gruesome, it's natural and irrelevant, and nobody laughs the whole way through.I was so spoiled, so spoiled by happy candlelight dinners and housework, that I was surprised and panicked when I faced reality. I have Ned within an hour, what should I do? I almost laughed out loud at the hollow trunk for the note.It's really an occupational disease, always chasing unusual possibilities first, and finally realizing that the answer is so simple.Frank once said to me that the bigger the case, the less skillful it is.If you want to find a friend for coffee, you can text or email, but if you get caught by the cops, the gangsters, or the Illuminati, definitely hang a blue towel on the laundry line so the party can see it.For Lacy, the clock ticked and the morning sickness loomed, a matter of life and death. Ned lived in Bray, fifteen minutes from rush hour.For the first time, she might take the risk of making a phone call at the university, after all, the two of them only need to agree on a place to leave a note on the path so that they can check each other once every two days.I must have passed it no less than ten times. The light flashed from the corner of my eyes again, like the corner of a smiling mouth, sly and cunning, fleeting. In a deserted hut?Forensic personnel have searched there like flies on a dunghill, checking every inch of the land, but they have found nothing.Besides, the night I followed Ned, he parked far from the cabin.With the specifications of that monster truck, it shouldn't be walking on trails at all, so since he drove, he would definitely stop as close as possible to the contact point.Ned had parked on the Rathowen Road that day, and there were no forks near it, just worn shoulders and long grass and raspberries, the road blackened away at the end of the ridge, and the milestone, old and sloping like a miniature tombstone. I didn't even think about it, and immediately turned around and ran wildly.Others must be waiting for me to come in, and I must not let them worry enough to come out to find someone, lest the lie be exposed.But this can't be postponed until tomorrow night, because what I have is no longer a hypothetical deadline, which can be postponed indefinitely, and I have to get ahead of Frank's thoughts, and Lacie. Out of the trail, the shoulders became flat and wide, with a wide view, but the road was empty, with no lights on the left or right.I pulled out my flashlight, and the inscription on the milestone came into view, weather-beaten and only a faint shadow in the light: Grunsky, 1828.The strong wind was blowing, and the weeds around the stele were swaying, like a rolling eddy, making a hissing sound. With the flashlight under my arm, I pushed aside the long grass with both hands. The blades were wet and sharp, and the fine teeth hooked my fingers. I saw something glowing deep red at the bottom of the stele. I couldn't recognize what it was for a moment.Things are deep in the grass, and the flashlight shines like a gem, and the people above dodge one after another. I see the sheen of a horse's belly, the flick of a red coat, the flick of powdered curls and the head-shaking of a dog, jumping and hiding.My hand touched the wet and sandy metal, and the little man and puppy shivered and returned to their original positions.I laughed out loud, like a slight gasp, which felt strange.It was an old rusty tin cigarette case, probably from the collection of Simon Uncle Simon, with a lively hunting picture on it, badly dented, painted with a crayon as thin as an eyebrow pencil.The forensics department and the supporting criminal police searched thoroughly within a two-kilometer radius of the abandoned hut, but the stele was outside the range.Lacey beat them and handed the box to me. The message was written on a strip of paper, probably torn from a Ferofas notepad.Ned writes like a ten year old and clearly doesn't know how to write a business letter or a newsletter: Dear Lacey, trying to get in touch with you, I'm still interested in what we talked about, please let me know .Thanks, Ned.I bet Ned went to a private school with horrible tuition fees, but his father's money was wasted. Dear Lacey Thank you, Ned.Lacie would want to kick him if she found out he had left the box like that, even if it was well hidden.I took out the lighter, walked back, burned the note and threw it on the ground until the fire was extinguished, and then stomped away the embers with my shoes.Immediately afterwards, I took out my Pilot ballpoint pen and tore a page out of my notebook. I know Lacey's handwriting better than I know it: Thursday 11, we'll talk then.I don't need to set the bait, Lacey has already arranged it, the guy has already taken the bait.I clicked the tin box shut, softly and sharply, and put it back in the long grass, feeling my fingerprints and Lacey's overlap perfectly, my feet carefully where she had been before, and hers The footprints have long since been washed away by the rain.