Chapter 27 Chapter Twenty Six

One day, a few weeks after the end of the mirror operation, I was wrestling with the official documents, waiting for the ruling from my superiors somewhere, when I suddenly received a call from Frank.Lacey's dad was online and he said: He wants to talk to you.There was a click, and then the red light on my phone started blinking, waiting for me to answer. I'm sitting at the desk of the domestic violence unit.At lunch time, outside the window was the quiet blue sky of summer. Everyone rolled up their sleeves and lay down on the grass in Stevens Park, trying to get more sunshine.But I was avoiding Maher, and he kept coming over, like sharing a secret, and asking me what it was like to kill someone.Therefore, I often pretend to have urgent business to deal with, and eat lunch very late.

It turned out that things were very simple.Half a world away, there was a young policeman named Hawkins. He forgot to bring his keys to work one day, so his father drove him to the police station. Hawkins' father is a retired police detective. He handed over the keys to his son and reminded him to buy fish for dinner before going home. He habitually glanced at the bulletin board behind his desk, including notices, stolen vehicles and missing persons. etc.Suddenly, he said: Wait a minute, I remember seeing this girl somewhere.Then it's much easier.They dug out the missing persons file that had been dusty for many years, until a familiar face appeared in front of them.

The girl's name was Grace, and she was two years younger than me.Father Carrigan ran a small cattle farm in the unnamed wilderness of Western Australia, named Merrigolan.He has not seen his daughter for thirteen years. Frank told him that I was spending the most time on the case and that I was the one who solved it.His accent was so thick it took me a while to understand what he was saying.I thought he was going to have endless questions, but instead of asking anything, at least not at first, he kept talking, telling me things I had absolutely no intention of asking.His voice was deep and slightly hoarse, and he felt tall. He spoke slowly and paused for a long time from time to time, as if he was not used to speaking, but he spoke for a long time.He has hoarded words for thirteen years in his heart, just for this day.

Grace had been a good kid, he said, a good kid, smart enough to go to college, but she hadn't the slightest interest.She loves her family, Carrigan said, and when she was only eight years old, she said that she would be eighteen soon, that she was going to marry the cattle farm boy, and when her parents were old, she and her husband would inherit the family business and serve the elders.She had planned everything, he said, and the words still carried the joy of the year.She told me that in a few years, she would start to pay attention to the young people who came to apply for the job, and find a possible marriage partner for her.Says she likes being tall and blonde and doesn't mind a rough speech, but she mustn't drink too much.She knew what she wanted from an early age, the kid.

However, when Grace was nine years old, her mother bled so badly while giving birth to her younger brother that she bled to death before doctors arrived. Grace was too young to handle it, Carrigan said.His tone suddenly sank, and I immediately understood that this matter was going back and forth in his heart, leaving a long scar.As soon as I finished speaking, I knew something was wrong.She was too young to bear the look in her eyes, and collapsed after hearing it.If she had been two years older, maybe it would have been all right.But after that incident, the kid was a different person, completely incomprehensible.She is still very sensible, obediently doing homework and the like, no longer mentioning the past, and single-handedly instigating housework.A little one stood in front of a stove bigger than her, stewing beef and making dinner just like her mother did when she was alive, but I no longer knew what was going on in her mind.

Between the pauses in his speech, my ears seemed to be pressed against shells, and the static interference was like the sound of being covered, echoing in my ears.I really wish I knew more about Australia, I only think of red soil, the scorching sun roars at you, the tangled plants just grow on the barren land, the vastness of the wilderness is dizzying and swallows you whole. Grace ran away from home for the first time when she was ten years old.They found her within hours, soaked and crying on the side of the road.But she escaped again the next year, and the year after that, and she fled further and further away.But at home, she never mentioned the escape, and whenever Carrigan mentioned it, she looked blank.He never knew that when he woke up, he would find that his daughter was gone.He puts a blanket on the bed in summer, but not in winter, so that he can sleep lightly, hoping to hear the sound of the door opening.

She finally did it when she was sixteen, said Carrigan, and I heard him swallow.Took three hundred bucks from under my mattress, drove off in the jeep, and deflated the tires of the other cars to delay us.By the time we set off, she was in town, dropped the jeep at the gas station, got into a truck, and headed east.The note said that they tried their best, but if she didn't want to be found, Australia would be very big. For the next four months, Grace was not heard from.At night, he often dreamed that his daughter was abandoned by the roadside. At night, the moon was big and red, and her bones were eaten by wild dogs.Then, just the day before his birthday, he received a card.

you wait a minute.He said.I heard rustling, people bumping into things, dogs barking in the distance.I found it, and the card said: Dear Dad, happy birthday.I'm fine, got a job, made some good friends.I won't be coming home but wanted to say hi love you Grace.By the way, don't worry, I didn't sell myself.He laughed again, a hoarse chuckle.Very powerful, right?She's right, you know, I've been worried that she's pretty, but she doesn't have a skill, but she wouldn't tell the truth if she did, and that's the way the kid is. Postmarked in Sydney.Carrigan immediately dropped everything else, drove to the nearest airport, boarded a mail plane, flew east to Sydney, photocopied a bunch of crappy missing person notices, and posted them on lampposts everywhere: Looking for daughter.No one called back.The following year, a card arrived from New Zealand: Happy Birthday, dear Papa.Please don't look for me anymore, I saw the notice and had to leave Sydney.I'm fine, don't do it again, love you Grace.By the way, I don't actually live in Wellington, I'm just here to send a card, don't make a trip in vain.Carrigan didn't have a passport and didn't even know how to apply.Grace turned eighteen a few weeks ago and Wellington Police said there was nothing they could do for healthy adults who decided to leave home.That is actually true.After that, he received two more cards, saying that she had a dog and bought a guitar.Then in 1996, San Francisco came with a card.

So, she ended up going to America, Carrigan said: God knows how she did it.I think no one can stop what Ge Er wants to do.She liked San Francisco very much, took the tram to work, and her roommate was a sculptor who taught her how to cast by hand, but she went to North Carolina the next year without any explanation.Then he received four more cards, one of which was from Liverpool with a photo of the Beatles.The last three are from Dublin. She has your birthday in her calendar, and I said: I know she was going to send you a card this year too. Well, Carrigan said: Maybe.There was a squawking sound from the other end of the phone, some unknown bird.I imagined Carrigan sitting on a dilapidated wooden balcony, looking out at the endless wilderness, and the ruthless and pure law of nature.

Carrigan was silent for a long time.I found myself reaching involuntarily (elegantly) into my neckline for the ring Sam had given me.Operation Mirror Image wasn't officially over yet, and announcing the engagement would only give the Politics Team a heart attack, so I used the thin gold chain my mother left behind to make the ring into a necklace and wear it.The ring hangs on my chest, almost where the microphone is, warmer than my body temperature even in the cold. What does she look like when she grows up?Later, Carrigan asked: What kind of a person is it? His voice lowered, with a hint of hoarseness.He needs to know.I thought of Mellous bringing potted plants to her fiancé's parents, Lacey giggling and throwing strawberries at Daniel, hiding her cigarette case in the long grass, not knowing what to say.

She is still very smart, I said: she is studying for a doctoral degree in the English Department, and she still does not let anyone stop her when she does things.Her friends love her very much, and she loves her friends very much, and they are very happy together.Although the five of them did these things to each other, I still believe so, and my thoughts have not changed until now. It's my daughter, Carrigan said in a trance: It's my daughter I don't know what is going on in his mind.After a while, Carrigan took a deep breath and came back to his senses.But one of them killed her, didn't he? It was hard for him to utter this sentence.Yes, I said: it does.But he didn't mean to kill, hope that puts your mind at ease.They had just had an argument, and her friend was doing the dishes with a knife in his hand and lost control in a fit of rage. Was she in pain before she died? No, I said: No, Mr. Carrigan.The medical examiner said she was short of breath and had a racing heart, as if she was running too fast, before losing consciousness.She walked so calmly that I almost blurted out, but suddenly thought of her clenched fists. Carrigan didn't speak for a long time, leading me to think the line went down or he left.Maybe put down the phone and leave the room, or lean on the railing and take a deep breath of the evening breeze.Colleagues came back after lunch, and I heard footsteps going upstairs, someone complaining about paperwork in the aisle, and Maher laughed provocatively.Come on, I'm tempted to say to Carrigan: we're running out of time. Afterwards, Carrigan let out a long sigh.do you know what i rememberHe said: The night before she left, the last time she ran away from home.After dinner, we sat on the balcony and Ge Er drank my beer.She looked so beautiful, like her mother, never looked so like, so calm.She smiled at me, and I thought that meant uh, I thought she'd finally decided to stay, and even fell in love with one of the lads.She felt like that, like a girl in a relationship.I thought to myself, this is our baby, Rachel, so cute, right?She's fine after all. Strange thoughts hovered in my head like moths.Frank didn't tell him, didn't mention the undercover thing, didn't mention me and Lacey.Yes, Mr. Carrigan, I said: she's all right after all, in her own way. Maybe, he said: that's what it sounds like.I only hope that the bird will cry again, like a desolate and lonely alarm, slowly disappearing into the distance.What I'm trying to say is, I think you're right, that guy didn't mean to kill her.I always thought something was going to happen, it was just a matter of time.This child is not suitable for this world and has been running away since he was nine years old. Maher rushed into the office, yelled at me, threw a large piece of sticky-looking cake on his desk, and started to gobble it up.As the static rang in my ears, I thought of the lean wild horses of the wilds of America and Australia, battling bobcats and dingoes, living on what they found. My childhood friend Allen got a US work-study visa one summer and went to work on a ranch in Wyoming, watching them tame wild horses.He often mentioned to me afterwards that there were occasional horses that refused to obey, became wild, and resisted the bridle and the fence until they were wounded and bled, had their legs or necks smashed, or even died, just to escape. Frank was right, everyone got away with it, at least no one got fired or jailed for Operation Mirror Image, which I think is probably how Frank said he was fine.He was given three days' leave and a reprimand for allowing the investigation to spiral out of control.To cause such a big mess, the political style team needs to arrest enough people to operate. I think they must be very happy to put the responsibility on Frank. Fearing that the world will not be chaotic, the media wanted to find someone to criticize the police for overenforcing the law, but no one was willing to cooperate.What they most often photographed was Xiao Rui slamming the middle finger to the photographer, which was later published in tabloids with a mosaic to protect underage readers. I was forced to see a therapist and he was overjoyed to see me.I mentioned a few mild traumatic symptoms, and after a few weeks, the symptoms miraculously disappeared. Thanks to the doctor's brilliant guidance, I got a recovery certificate, and started to lick the wound of the mirror image operation with my own method.To tell the truth, it only made the doctor nervous, because whenever I think of Lacey, the strongest feeling in my heart is gratitude. Once you know where the card was sent from, it's much simpler to trace.It wasn't necessary, since we had nothing to do with anything that happened before the girl died in our precinct, but Frank checked anyway.He sent me the file stamped with the words "closed case", without a note inside. They couldn't find her whereabouts in Sydney, only a surfer guy said he thought he saw her selling ice cream on Manly Beach, his name was Herzo.But he was vague and uncertain, and his statement was hard to convince.Her name is Ballantine in New Zealand. According to the records of the manpower dispatch company, Ballantine is the most efficient office receptionist.But a client was satisfied with her performance and persuaded her to switch to a full-time job, and she never showed up again. She was a hippie chick in San Francisco, named Alana.Worked at a beach supply store and often smoked weed with friends in front of the campfire.In the photo, she has waist-length curly hair flying in the wind, bare feet, shell necklaces, and tanned legs in cropped jeans.She was Megs in Liverpool, working as a waitress in a quirky cocktail bar, dreaming of being a hatter and setting up a weekend market stall.In the photo, she is smiling, wearing a red velvet wide hat with a ball of lace stuck to one ear.Her roommates were all nocturnal, vivacious girls who did things like her, fashion or chorus or urban art.They said Megs had just gotten a contract to design hats for a popular brand before she disappeared.They were not very worried when they found her gone.Megs will be all right, they said, as always. Chad's letter contained a blurry photograph of the two of them by the lake, on a bright summer day.She wears an oversized T-shirt, has her hair in long braids, and smiles sheepishly, her face averted from the camera.Chad was tall, thin and dark, awkwardly posed, with a lock of blond hair hanging down his forehead. With one arm around Melus, he looked down at her expression, as if he couldn't believe his good luck.I only hope that you can give me a chance and let me find you. He said in the letter: Give me a chance, Xiaomei, I am willing to go anywhere in the world.Whatever it is you want, I hope you find it.I just want to know what you want, why not me? I photocopied the photos and the content of the interrogation, and sent the file back to Frank with a post-it note saying: Thank you.The next afternoon, I left work early to find Abby. There is Abby's address in the file.She lives in the Lanella dormitory in the school district. The house is dilapidated and small, the lawn in front of the house is overgrown with weeds, and there are too many electric bells at the door.I stayed on the sidewalk, leaning against the railing.At 5pm, she should be back soon (habits are hard to change), and I hope she sees me from a distance, and be mentally prepared. I waited about half an hour before I saw her appear on the street corner.Abby was wearing the long gray coat and was carrying two supermarket shopping bags.The distance is too far, I can't see her face, but I remember the brisk steps very clearly.I noticed that when she saw me, she threw her body backward, almost dropped the bag in her hand, and stood on the empty sidewalk for a while, wondering if she should turn around and leave, or just find a place to stay.But she immediately realized her gaffe, took a deep breath, raised her shoulders, and continued walking towards me.I still remember being at the kitchen table with her that first morning at the forest house, thinking that if things were different, we might be friends. Abby stood by the gate, scrutinizing my face carefully, with a calm demeanor without flinching.Then she finally said: I should kick you to death. She can't seem to do that.She had lost a lot of weight, and her hair was tied high, making her face even thinner.Not only that, but her skin also lost its luster and elasticity.Looking at her with tired eyes and thin figure, I felt for the first time that she looked like a stubborn and mean old woman. You should.I said. what do you want Give me five minutes and I say: We found something about Lacey's past that I thought you might want to know about.Probably I don't know, might help. A skinny monkey boy with Dr. Martin shoes and an iPod in his hand hurried past us, entered the dormitory, and slammed the door.can i go inI asked: If you don't want to, we can stay here, just five minutes. What's your name?They told me, but I forgot. My name is Kathy. Detective Casey, Abby was silent for a moment, then hooked the bag around her wrist, pulled out the key and said, "Okay, you can come in for a while, but I want you to go, so you have to go."I nodded in agreement. Abby lived in a one-room apartment, at the end of the second floor, smaller and more empty than mine, with a single bed, an armchair, a boarded-up fireplace, a mini-fridge and A pair of small tables and chairs by the window.There were no doors to the kitchen or bathroom, no decorations on the walls, no knick-knacks on the mantelpiece.In the evening, it was warm and pleasant outside, but Abby's room was as cold as water.The ceiling was lightly damp-spotted, but scrubbed clean everywhere, and a large window faced west, letting the room glow with a melancholy slanting sun.I thought of her room at the Hawthorn House, that well-furnished little den. Abby threw the shopping bag on the floor, shook off her coat and hung it behind the door.The bag left a red mark on her wrist, like a handbell.This place is not as bad as you imagined, she retorted, but there was a trace of weariness in her tone.At least there is a bathroom, but at the corner of the stairs, but what can you do? I don't think it sucks.I said.It's true, I've lived in worse places.I just thought I thought there was supposed to be insurance money or something, I said forest house. Abby pursed her lips.We didn't have insurance, she said: We thought we'd be stupid to say the house lasted all these years and spend the money on fixing it up.She opened what looked like a wardrobe. Inside was a small sink, a two-burner stove, and two cupboards.So we had no choice but to sell the house, to Ned.He won, or should Lacey, you, or the guy who set fire to the house won, I don't know.Anyway, someone won. Since you don't like this place, I ask: why do you still live here? With her back to me, Abby shrugged and put the stuff (baked beans, canned tomatoes, and a bag of unbranded cornflakes) on the cupboard.Her shoulder blades were pressed against a thin gray sweater, and she was as thin as a little girl.She said: Because this is the fastest place I can find a place to stay, I need a place to live.After your people released us, the Counseling Center for Victims found a lousy homestay in Xiaqiu.We had no money, and all the money was collected in the public fee tank. You should know this very well, but it was burned up in the end.The landlady drove us out at ten o'clock in the morning and was not allowed to go back until ten o'clock in the evening. I stayed in the library all day and couldn't read anything. We stayed alone in the room at night and the three of us didn't talk much. I moved out as soon as I found a place. .Now that I got some money from the sale of the house, it should be used to pay the down payment on the new house, but I need to work to pay the loan, and things are too complicated until I finish my PhD. I have been on the fence for a while, but if I delay If it takes too long, the rent will eat up the money, and then there will be no need to decide. Are you still at Trinity College?I almost screamed.I used to dance to her songs, sit on my bed together and eat chocolate chip cookies, share bad kissing experiences, but now I can only talk rawly as two strangers, as if separated by a hard shell.I am not qualified to change anything, nor can I break the hard shell and touch her. Now that it has started, it can be ended. What about Xiaorui and Justin? Abby slammed the cupboards and ran her hands through her hair, I don't know how many times I've seen her do it.I don't know how to treat you, she said angrily: You ask me like this, on the one hand I want to reveal the details to you, on the other hand I want to revenge you severely.We're supposed to be your best friends and you're treating us like this, I'm tempted to say mind your own shit and try bringing up their names again.I can't help it, I don't know how to talk to you, how to see you, what do you want to do? Abby looks like she's about to be kicked out.I brought this, I said hastily, taking the photocopied file from my bag.You know Lacey's using a pseudonym, right? Abby looked at me with folded arms, wary eyes and a deadpan expression.Your friend told us, what's that guy's name, that's the guy who nailed us at the beginning, a big blond guy with a Gawi accent. sam.I said.I recently started wearing the ring, and the reaction has ranged from happy to bitter, but the commotion has died down and the Homicide Squad even gave us an inexplicable silver plate as an engagement gift.However, Abby should not link the ring to Sam. it's him.I thought he was just trying to scare us by saying that, let's be honest or something.so what? We tracked her down.I said and handed the file to her. Abby took the file and flicked her thumbs, thinking of her effortless shuffling skills.what's inside The place where she lived, the identity she used, the photos and interrogation interviews, she still looked at me with cold and decisive eyes, as if she had slapped me in the face.I think you should decide whether to leave information or not. Abby tossed the file on the table and went back to the shopping bag to stuff food into the mini fridge: a pint of milk and a small plastic jar of what looked like chocolate mousse.Need not.I know everything I need to know about Lacey. I thought the file might explain something about why she made certain decisions.Maybe you'd rather not know, but Abby stood up suddenly, shaking the refrigerator door violently.what do you knowYou haven't even met Lacey, and I don't care if she uses a fake name, or how many names she has used in so many places, it doesn't matter.I know Lacey, I lived with her, there's nothing wrong with that.You are the same as Xiaorui's father, what nonsense you talk about in the real world, we are the real ones, much more real than here!She jerked her chin up, looking at her room. I didn't mean that, I said: I just think she never wanted to hurt any of you, that's not the way it is.After a while, Abby shrank her body like a deflated ball.That's what you said the other day, telling you Lacey, it was just a moment of panic because of the baby. I thought so then, and I said: so do I now. Well, Abby said: Me too, that's why I let you in.She shoves something into the refrigerator and closes the door. Rui and Justin, I said: Would they want to see the files? Abby rolled the plastic bag into a ball, stuffed it into another plastic bag, and hung it on a chair.Xiao Rui was in London, and she said to me: As soon as your people allow us to travel, he will go abroad.His father helped him find a job, I don't know the content, it's related to finance.He didn't qualify at all, and he probably did a terrible job, but he couldn't get fired, not as long as his dad was around. Oh my God, I couldn't help blurting out: he must be miserable. Abby shrugged and gave me a quick, meaningful look.We rarely chat.I called him several times to discuss selling the house.He didn't give a damn, just said I can do whatever I like, just send him the papers to sign, but I have to be sure.I usually call him in the evening when he's either in a fancy bar or a nightclub with loud music and people yelling at him and calling him Rarity.He's always half drunk, but I don't think you'll be too surprised.You're wrong, though, I don't think he's having a hard time, and I hope this makes things easier for you. Xiaorui smiled under the moon, looking sideways at me, her fingers pressed against my cheek, feeling warm and moist.Rui and Lacey, somewhere I still feel like an alcove.Where's Justin? Justin went back to Northern Ireland.He tried to stay at Trinity, but couldn't help it not just because of the stares and whispers, although that was bad enough, but everything was different.I heard him cry in the booth twice.He wanted to go to the library one day, but he couldn't do it. He became hysterical in front of everyone in the Faculty of Arts. Everyone had to call an ambulance to take him away, and he never went back to school. There was a neat stack of coins on the refrigerator. Abby picked up one and sent it to the electric meter, turned the handle and said: I talked to him twice. He taught English in a boys’ school and substituted for a female teacher who was on maternity leave.He said the brats there were spoiled devils and wrote on the blackboard almost every morning: Teacher Justin is a sissy.But the school is in the countryside, and the other teachers don't care about him, at least they are safe and sound.I don't think Xiaorui and Justin would want to read the file, she nodded towards the table as she said.I don't ask them either.If you want to talk to them, you have to find a way by yourself.But I have to warn you, I don't think they will be overjoyed to hear your voice. I don't blame them.I went to the desk and collected the files.From the window, the backyard is overgrown with brightly colored potato chip wrappers and empty bottles. Abby said behind my back, without a trace of ups and downs in her tone.You should know that we will hate you forever. I didn't turn around.Whether I want it or not, my face is still a weapon in this small room, a sharp knife between me and her.It was easier for her to talk without looking at my face.I know.I said. If you're asking for forgiveness, you've come to the wrong place. No, I said: that's all I can give you, so I figured I'd have to try anyway, and I owe you that. After a while, I heard Abby sigh and say, We don't think it's all your fault, we're not that stupid, there was a rustle behind me long before you came, maybe she moved or pushed the chair away.Daniel believed until the end that we could get through the trouble, that there must be a way out.But I don't think so.Even if Lacey isn't dead, I think by the time your colleague shows up at the door, it will be too late.So many things have changed, not the same. You and Daniel, I say: Rui and Justin. There was another rustle.I guess that should be obvious.That night, the night Lacey died, we couldn't get over it, or it wouldn't have been so bad.Many things have happened before, no matter who and who, but everyone can get through it in the end.but that night I heard Abby swallow.Before that night, there was a balance between us, you know?Everyone knows that Justin likes Xiaorui, but that's it, no one points it out.I didn't even realize that you could laugh at me being silly, but I really didn't, I just thought Daniel was my best friend for life.I always felt like we could go on like this forever, maybe not.But that night was different.When Daniel said she was dead, everything changed, became clearer, unbearably clearer.It's like someone turned on a headlight and you can't close your eyes again, not even for a second.Do you know what I mean? Well, I said: I understand. After that night, even if Lacey did come back, I don't know if we were Abby didn't say any more.I turned to find her looking at me, closer than I thought.You don't speak like her, she said: You don't even move like her, how are you similar? Some of us are the same, I say: but not everywhere. Abby nodded.After a while, she continued: Now I want to ask you to leave. I was holding the doorknob and was about to open it when Abby suddenly spoke, as if reluctantly.Do you want to know a strange thing? It was dusk outside the window, and her face seemed to disappear into the dark room.I called Xiaorui once, he was not in a bar or something, but at home, on the balcony of his residence.We chatted for a while, and I mentioned that I still miss Lacey, even after all this has happened.Xiao Rui responded casually, saying that life is so interesting that he has no time to miss anyone.But before he could answer, he paused, seemed confused, as if it took a second to remember who I was talking about.I know Xiao Rui, I swear to God, he almost said: Who? The phone rang upstairs, using the song "Hot Girl with Buttocks", the voice was muffled through the ceiling, and then someone strode across the floor to answer the phone.He was so drunk, Abby said: "Like I said before, but still I can't help but wonder if we're going to forget the other people, and in a year or two we'll all be lost in each other's minds. , leaving no trace, as if we had never met, even passing by on the street one day, we would not even blink our eyes. Don't talk about the past.I said. Don't talk about the past.Sometimes she gasped.I can't remember their faces.Rui and Justin, I'm okay, but Lacey, and Daniel. I watched her turn her head away, her profile was silhouetted against the window, her nose was turned up and a lock of hair hung down.I love him, you know, she said: I love him as much as he makes me love him in this life. I know.I said, I really want to tell her that being loved is also a kind of talent. It takes as much courage and effort as being a lover. Some people never learn to be loved for some reason.However, I just took out the photocopied material from my schoolbag, rummaged through it (I had to hold the paper to the tip of my nose to see it), and dug out a discolored photocopy.The five of them stood smiling outside the Hawthorn House, surrounded by snow and silence.take it.I said and handed the photo to Abby. The room was almost completely dark, and Abby stretched out her white hand to take the photo, walked to the window, and held the photo to the last daylight. Thank you, after a while, she said: I will keep it.I walked out of the apartment and closed the door behind me, and Abby was still standing by the window, gazing at the photo. Afterwards, I occasionally wished I had dreamed of Lacey.Day by day she faded from the hearts of others, and would soon be gone forever, a lily-of-the-valley and hawthorn in a deserted cottage, unvisited.I feel like I owe it to her to dream of her, but she never appears.Whatever Lacey asked me to give her, I figured I would.The only thing I dream of is the hawthorn forest house, empty, full of sunshine and dust, vines everywhere, whirling and rustling around, always close at the corner.One of Lacey and I was smiling in the mirror. I just hope for one thing: Lacey never stops.I hope that when she can no longer run, she can throw away her body, just like throwing down everything that hinders her, slam on the accelerator, go straight forward like a beast, gallop on the highway at night, let go of the steering wheel, Looking up to the sky like a lynx, howling, the dividing line and the green light flashed suddenly, submerged in the darkness, the wheels were slightly suspended in the air, and the feeling of freedom rushed to her heart from her back. I wish every minute she could have had would be blown into that cabin by the breeze: ribbons and spray; wedding rings and Chard. The mother's tears; the wrinkles from the sun and striding through the mahogany grove; the baby's first tooth and his small shoulder blades, like wings flying in Amsterdam, Toronto, Dubai; hawthorn blossoms in the wind in summer, Daniel's hair is slowly turning white, the candlelight and Abby's sweet singing in tune. Daniel once said to me that time works on everyone.I hope Lacey's last moments of life did a lot for her, I hope she lived all the thousands of lives she had in that half hour. (End of the book)