Chapter 36 Chapter Thirty-Five

Packing is fun.It's a pity that no one except me got a glimpse of its contents.I put a small package of condoms stolen from Owen's room, a pair of Pipa's thongs, a scarf left by Xiaomei, and a lip gloss I took from Estelle's bedroom.I also took an envelope small enough to fit in the mailbox from Estrene's stack of padded envelopes.I put the recipient's name on Jonathan.Whiteley, he was my best friend when I was a student. Although the recipient's address is Century Road, the house number has been changed.De.Soto lives at number twenty-seven.I write number seven.So far away that she probably didn't even know who lived there, so similar that the postman could understandably made a mistake.

Besides, after leaving Melanie's place, I went to a shop I had seen before in Brick Lane.It specializes in slingshots and switchblades for wilderness survivalists.I chose a broad, serrated knife.Always look scary.The man behind the counter was bald on the front of his head, but he wore a gray ponytail behind him.Who is he trying to scare with this virtue?He put the knife into the paper bag.Cutting venison is easy.He said. Are there a lot of deer in the East End?I asked him. I've seen some in Leah Valley.He said. Logically speaking, I shouldn't be able to sleep at night.I should rehearse in my head and double check that the plan works.But when my alarm clock goes off at six o'clock, I feel like I've been dragged out of a deep sleep.At first I didn't know where I was, I thought I was home and all London was just a dream.

I was walking down the stairs while everyone was asleep, and I happened to meet Estelle in the hallway.You got up so early.I said. I have to fill in for someone else, she lamented, and you? Me too, I said, so to speak. I don't have time to hang out outside this time.And it's not necessary.I waited on the other side of the street for the postman to arrive.I saw De from afar.Mr. Soto's Jaguar pulled out of the driveway, feeling his stomach churning.That's how it must feel for a boxer getting ready to enter the ring, or a rock star about to hit the stage.The noisy and expectant crowd are all in the audience, waiting for you to pass on your wonderful experience to them.It's just that the audience in this example doesn't know that they are audiences.They don't yet know that their lives are about to change.

Just after eight o'clock, the postman appeared on the street.It felt like I was pushing them around the table like chips.The plan is simple: just go inside and see if she's alone.If not, get out of the way without causing any harm, and try your luck at another house.If she's alone, intimidate her, limit her movements, steal at her leisure.Leave without leaving a trace. Postmen went from house to house, up and down, up and down the trails.As I walked, I pulled on my surgical gloves and unwrapped packages from plastic shopping bags.I time it with precision.Postman from Germany.The driveway of Soto's house appeared and gradually moved away.I waited for him to disappear around the corner, then hurried across the drive and stuffed the package into the mailbox.Just the right size.There is no turning back now.I walked back to the road and took off my gloves.I have to wait ten minutes for this drama to be more convincing.I glance at my watch.Exactly eight twenty-seven.I timed the time I walked out of her house.At 8:32:30, I made a decisive U-turn and walked back to the main house.I rang the bell.Here comes the show.

The walkie-talkie buzzed, then crackled.Hello? Hi.As I spoke, I smiled at the small camera above the megaphone. Is there a problem? Hi, my name is Jonathan.whiteley.I live on the 7th, and I mentioned a package to the postman just now, and he said that he might have accidentally delivered it to my house. Oh my God, said the broken voice, could it be you?Wait a moment. Then the door opened, and I stepped forward to enter. Ingrid.De.Soto is so beautiful.This is the effect of throwing money at it.She doesn't seem to live on the same planet as us.She trimmed her expensive hair and tied it tightly into a bun.She was wearing a blue silk pajamas, and I could see her protruding breasts under the pajamas, and a flash of a gold necklace, like a thin wire around her neck, and another ring at the wrist, which was a support table.In comparison, Pipa was poorly dressed, Estelle was disheveled, and Melanie looked vulgar and cheap.But now I'm on her planet.I looked left and right.She is really home alone.

I'm sorry, she said, I feel confused.Sorry, I made a stupid mistake.She showed a mouthful of beautiful and expensive teeth, and smiled to accompany me. Now it's me who is confused.What's the meaning?I said.Should I not poke Lou Zi? Don't worry, she said, here.She returned the package to me. I forced a smile on my face.No, seriously, I said, did something go wrong? She laughed a few times.It's absurd, she said, we often get deliveries in envelopes like this.I thought it was delivered to the wrong address and just called the courier and told them to send someone to pick it up.She glanced at her watch.Too bad they'll be here soon.She smiled again.This is not your problem.

As soon as I heard it, I punched her hard, and she fell to the ground.I grabbed her by the neck, such a brutal act was against my will.I had carefully planned to rob someone who had nothing to do with me, and in the end the courier was about to arrive and caught me.I was so angry at my ignorance that I could hardly feel her flailing her hands and arms to resist, and I could hardly hear her clucking and choking.I pushed her down hard, banged her head against the floor, and locked her throat with my hand until I saw her eyes were no longer looking back at me or at anything.I let go. You bloody idiot.I said, but I didn't know if I said it to her or to myself.

I stood in front of her in panic.She fell to the ground sprawled.I looked at my watch and calmed my breathing.Eight thirty-five.I can only give myself two minutes.That's all.I look around.It was everything I imagined, everything I dreamed about.But in order to escape, I had to do the exact opposite of what I planned.I have to make it look like it doesn't look like a robbery.I had to create the illusion that the murderer was crazy.How would a madman murder a woman?I thought of Owen and those damn pictures of him, and it seemed like a joke only I could understand.I took the knife from the inside of my jacket and drew it out of its sheath.I firmly support Ingrid.De.Soto's head mirrored the woman's face in Owen's photograph, with prominent knife marks on her cheeks and forehead.Then, taking one of her earrings between my fingers, I ripped it cleanly from her perfectly shaped lobe and pocketed it.The sight in front of her, jelly-like blank, lifeless eyes, was horrifying for a split second.I turned her face down so she could stare at the tiles.I looked at my watch again.time up.

I go to the door.Now as long as I go out and cross the street, I'm free.Then I remembered the damn package.Can't leave it there, right?It contained a thong, a condom, and a scarf.I turned and looked around the room past the sprawled corpse.It's right there, on the dresser shelf by the door.I pick it up.At this moment, I had an idea, and picked up an egg-shaped glass letter with a spiral pattern, and a heavy white invitation card.I walked back to the door, the clack of my shoes echoing on the tiles.I stepped out of the house, closed the door, and heard it click shut.I walked along the path, listening to the sound of my feet on the gravel.Can't run.People will remember the man who ran.I went out the gate and across the street, restraining myself from looking left and right.What to do next?Concealing myself, I rest my forehead against the trunk of a tree, feeling the rough bark.It's full of life, but the woman has burped.Suddenly a thought flashed through my mind: Why did I do this?In self-defense, because something went wrong?I thought to myself; no, not right.You just take the package and leave.She will apologize to the courier.That's how things go.

That was a stupid mistake.I didn't have time to think, I was in a fog of panic, and I made bad decisions.Maybe that's a good reason to protect me too, since I don't even have a real motive.That woman was lying on the ground, dead unjustly, maybe my fingerprints were everywhere.I'm looking around the tree trunk in wary fear and I'm about to go back, but right now, honestly, I think I should have expected it, because it's turning into a farce A bicycle comes into view, of course, the cyclist The person is Estelle.Although she was still some distance away, I could see her riding hard up the hill, her face shining, but she wasn't panting too much.She looks stunning.Why can't things go the way I want?It happened that Melanie regarded me as her boyfriend, and it happened that the woman died wrongfully.Maybe this is life.

With one movement, Estelle hopped off the bike and led it across the gravel.It's like watching a schoolchild trying to solve a puzzle.She rang the bell, then rang it again.She took out her cell phone to make a call.She peers into the house through the mailbox and sees something.I could see she was thinking.She looked left and right.My whole body shrank further behind the tree.I heard her speaking into the phone again.Although I couldn't hear what she was saying, I could hear her eager and almost hysterical tone.She could be calling an ambulance, or even talking to the police.It's time to get out of the way. I moved slowly and left along the other side of Century Road.I hadn't turned the corner when I heard a loud crash on a window.Estelle, you are so handsome.