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«Are you pregnant?» From Marcus?
«Yes, that’s all he could leave behind.
Miss Green’s story was terrifying. We were shocked that no one interviewed her and no one did a proper investigation.
«Why, when you regained your memory, didn’t you go to the police?»
«And I did!»
«But that’s not in the protocols!»
«A man came to my house and introduced himself as an FBI. I told him everything, just as I’m telling you now. He was polite and finally said that if I needed anything, he would contact me. But time passed, and nothing changed: no one came to me, the local police told me that the FBI was in charge of the case and they had no authority. That’s all.
When Lina was born, I began to forget this story, as much as I could. I lived for her, we were very happy. Later we left Lingfield for Cortland.
«Did you tell this story to Lina?»
«Yes!» But she herself stated that she wanted to find Marcus’s killer. Then I could not stand it and told her everything, everything I knew. On the one hand, I wanted to tell her so that the girl knew about her father, at least a little.
«Thank you for your courage and frankness, Miss Green. I still have one last question: do you happen to know what this key can be from? I placed the key in front of Catherine, and she looked at it carefully. Then she shook her head.
«I can’t even imagine what it’s from!
«Thank you for your time, Miss Green. Do you mind if we take your phone number, in case we need some information…
«I don’t have one, and I don’t have a phone,» Catherine cut off sharply. «If you need anything, come like this.
«Is Lina’s room still here?»
«Yes, it’s there, behind the kitchen.
Lina’s room was dark. The curtains were closed, and there was dust all around. Obviously, nothing has changed here since Lina graduated from school. After examining the room, including for the presence of secret hatches and safes, they did not find anything that could fit this key. At this point, we decided to curtail our operation: we received very valuable information from Catherine Green, and it was worth thinking about everything in a calm atmosphere.
«Thank you, Miss Green, we’ve got to go!»
«Get out,» she said goodbye rudely.
Apparently, the alcohol hit her head even harder, and it was as if there was another woman in front of us.
«Get out, get out!» she shouted after her.
As we closed the front door, we could clearly hear something fly into the door and shatter to pieces. We heard screams and swearing.
«Obviously, she’s already ’that’,» Patrick twisted his finger at his temple.
«Perhaps, but now we have information!»
«This information is worthless. Have you seen her? In addition, when I made inquiries about her, I learned that she was in a psychiatric hospital from 2003 to 2004. She is an unreliable witness. A drunkard and a psychic, besides, she did not see the attackers.
«Maybe you’re right, Patrick, but I think the two things are connected. The cases of Marcus Peters and Lina Green.
«Are you sure?»
«Not yet!» But you need to dig further. See for yourself: Lina was looking for the killer of Marcus Peters and suddenly dies, leaving mysterious messages to her friends, including Carl Branson. Who knows, but we have no way back!
«All right, let’s go…»
The way back was no different. We drove in the same silence. All the way I thought about this unfortunate key. What is it from? Will it help solve this case or both cases? I thought the same way about Lina’s mother, Katherine Green. How hard it must be for her! It is not surprising that she got drunk and went to a psychiatric hospital, because she got there almost immediately after Lina’s death. Most likely, her nerves gave out, she could not survive the death of her only loved one. She did not marry and did not give birth again. Her whole life is the murdered Marcus, her fiancé, and what is left of him, or rather Lina! At some point, my thoughts were completely confused, and I couldn’t think clearly. I just looked ahead and drove the car back to Lingfield.
Envelope
The weather in Lingfield turned completely bad: clouds covered the entire sky, heavy rain fell on the quiet town, a piercing wind bent the trees, and it seemed that these endless clouds hung over the whole world.
My soul was both excited and disgusting. This story… I was soaked through it. A shiver ran through my body at Miss Green’s story.
«Goodbye, Havebrook. I’ll see you later. Patrick brought me back to reality, and I just waved back to him, and I drove to the house by the lake.
My board with facts grew, more and more new information appeared on it. I was haunted by the work of the employees of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Why, having witness testimony, no one was looking for the car and those bastards who committed such an atrocity?
I was distracted from my thoughts by the rustling outside the door. I cautiously approached and listened, but everything stopped. But still, at my own peril and risk, I abruptly opened the door. Marcy was standing in the doorway.
«Hi, Marcy. What are you doing here?
«Hello, Mr. Havebrook. I brought you dinner, I didn’t want to disturb you and decided to leave the bag here.
«Thank you, Marcy!» Will you come in?
«No, no, no!» I don’t want to disturb you and disturb you. I’m sorry, but I’ve also been given a letter for you. I don’t know the man, he just came up and asked if I could give the letter to James Havebrook. He stressed that this is very important! I agreed, and he got into his car and just drove away.
«Thank you, Marcy, that’s very kind of you.
«See you, Mr. Havebrook.» I hope I didn’t do anything wrong?
«It’s okay, Marcy, thank you again.
She waved to me and left. I stood on the threshold and held a strange envelope that was completely white, without any inscriptions. My heart was pounding wildly in my chest, curiosity was eating away, and I opened the envelope.
Letter
Mr. Havebrook, I know you’re looking for the truth about Lina Green. I think I have information for you. We need to meet. I’m waiting for you tomorrow in New York, at 170 Crosby Street, the fifth table by the window. Come alone at three o’clock in the afternoon.
E.D.
«E.D.?» Edward Daniels?
I think Carl Branson said that he was a great journalist in New York. His palms sweated with excitement. So! I need a drink! I reasoned aloud.
I couldn’t wait for the morning, time passed very slowly, and I sat down to read a book. I wrote as I had never written before: the words poured out of me as if in an endless procession. I came to my senses in the morning. I rubbed my eyes, closed my laptop, then fell exhausted on the sofa and slept. However, I did not sleep long, some anxiety woke me up. I stood up detachedly and looked at my watch: it showed 6 in the morning. Then I decided that it was time to move to New York. The journey usually takes three hours, you need to be there early to take a good look at everything and look at your parents.
Mysterious E. D.
I arrived in New York early, just after 9 in the morning. There was plenty of time before the meeting, and I decided to look around the area. At 170 Crosby Street there was a small diner. I went inside and decided to find table number 5. There were 12 of them in total. And which one is the fifth? Taking a closer look and going around all the tables, I noticed that they were all signed. The fifth table was near a window overlooking Crosby Street. A convenient place to inspect whoever arrives, enters, and exits. Not noticing anything else noteworthy, I decided to drive to my parents.
«Hello, Dad!»
At that time, my father was mowing the lawn near the house and did not immediately see me, because, I noticed, he shuddered.
«Hey, James!» Father answered, turning off the lawnmower. «Has something happened?»
«No, no, dad!» I hastened to calm him down.
«Tell me, do you know Edward Daniels?»
— Yes, we know each other. I can’t say that we are best friends, but we worked together for a while. When Lina Green was killed, he found me in a bar himself, but you know, there was an entry about it in the diary.
«There was… But there was no surname there…
«Oh, exactly! And why did you start talking about him?
«I think he contacted me. He handed me the letter through Marcy. She is a waitress at a local diner in Lingfield. Sometimes he brings food to my home.
My father listened attentively, and I handed him the letter. He opened it leisurely and, as it seemed to me, read it for a long time. Perhaps he was just thinking…
«Do you think he has any information about Lin?» I could not stand it anymore and broke the silence.
Father was silent for a while, and then said:
«Are you sure it’s Edward Daniels?»
«Here are the initials E.D.
«Well, that doesn’t mean anything!» You didn’t see who handed over the letter, did you? And in general, this whole idea can be dangerous.
I listened silently, and my father continued:
«A meeting at three o’clock.» So let’s do this: I’ll drive my car and park outside the diner on Crosby Street and watch you. Your table is right next to the window, and I’ll have a good view of everything that’s going on inside. And if I notice anything suspicious, I will immediately call the police and come to your aid.
«Good plan, father,» I said with a smile. «True, this mysterious E.D. asked me to come alone. What if he notices you and thinks it’s suspicious and won’t tell me anything.
«I don’t care what he wanted!» You’re my son, and I want to know you’re safe. And this is not up for discussion. Let’s go sit down, I’ll make tea.»
We settled down at a table in the backyard, and then I asked:
«Can you tell me any more details about the events of 2002?» The diary says that you were suspected of murdering her.
«At that time, everyone who communicated with Lina was suspected, or maybe they were rather looking for just a scapegoat in order to quickly close the case and not sow panic. As you know, Lingfield is a small town where everyone knows each other more or less.
«Why did you hide the diary?»
«Well, as you could tell from the diary, I broke into Lina Green’s house and stole her notes. Well, I thought I’d find her notes. I knew about her hiding place in the floor, but there were only newspaper clippings about the disappearance and murder of Marcus Peters. I compared that Lina was engaged in this case, but still there were no records themselves — no tapes, no diaries, nothing! And I’m sure they were — apparently she hid everything in a safer place. And the key that Carl Branson gave you will give you access to these records!
«So, when I climbed into the house, the police officers on duty noticed me. I had to run away, otherwise it would have looked extremely suspicious if I had been detained. I managed to hide in the library, it was there that I wrote the last pages of the diary and hid it. At the time, the local librarian, Mike, helped me, and I appreciated his help. I was afraid that if I left the library in the evening, I would arouse suspicion, I would be detained, and a diary and newspaper clippings about an old murder would be found with me.
«In short, I decided not to take any chances.
«What else did Lina tell you?»
«I don’t know much, except that she was just looking for the killer of Marcus Peters and her father!»
«Father?» Isn’t her father, the deceased Marcus Peters?
«What makes you think so, son?»
Then I told my father in detail about my visit to Catherine Green. Her father was extremely surprised, he did not even know that Catherine was with Marcus on that fateful night.
«Wait, son… You said that Catherine was with Marcus that night and she was raped, right?!
«Yes, that’s right, Dad!»
We looked at each other in silence, and the realization of what had happened dawned on us!
«What if the rapist Catherine Green is Lina’s real father?» It was him she was looking for to bring to light, and, fearing to be discovered, the criminal took her life. And if so, it means that Lena Green has found her father.
«That is, it turns out that the father killed his own daughter,» I summed up.
«Yes, but it’s not clear if he knew it was his daughter. Lina could not reveal the whole truth at once, only hinting that she knew that he participated in the events of 76. It turns out that in the entire history of Lingfield, there were only two murders, and they were committed by the same person, but with a difference of 26 years.
«Don’t forget that he raped Lina’s mother, Katherine Green.
«I think Lina’s notes would help us a lot!»
«Dad, maybe Edward Daniels knows something that can help us!»
«Son, find what the damn key is to and write a story about these events. The truth! So that the culprit or perpetrators of these crimes go to jail.
«I’ll do my best, Dad. But one thing I can say for sure: the person we are looking for is not so simple. It seems to me that he occupies a good position in society. Maybe he’s a politician or a cop, or maybe even higher. It will be difficult, the evidence must be ironclad.
We both felt uncomfortable.
By three o’clock my father and I arrived at Crosby Street, as we had agreed, in two cars. I went inside and took a seat at table No 5 near the window. The table was empty. The waitress brought me coffee. I sat in agonizing expectation, and looking out of the window, I thought again of poor Lina Green. The poor thing just wanted the truth, she wanted the criminal to be punished. I don’t know what happened that night, maybe she planned to kill her mother’s abuser and her hated father, but she was reckless enough to go to the killer alone. She could tell her friends and experienced colleagues about everything, perhaps in the team they would have solved this issue without such a high price, and this death would not have happened, and the criminal would have been in prison. Although it is suspected that Lina had no evidence against him, she only knew for sure that it was him. Therefore, she went to him alone to make sure of her conclusions. Her instinct did not fail her, and for this she paid with her life. In addition, she was afraid to put others in danger.
— Good afternoon!
I did not notice at all how a tall black man appeared in front of the table.
«You must be James Havebrook?»
I nodded.
«My name is Edward Daniels, but I think you guessed it!» Your father Hank is out there on the street, isn’t it?
«Yes,» I drawled.
«I think Hank can be trusted, let him come in and join us.
I waved my hand out the window, calling my father. He immediately got out of the car and headed to the café. A moment later, the three of us were already sitting at the table. Edward ordered coffee for everyone and asked them not to disturb them.
The Story of Edward Daniels
Year 2002
Shortly before her disappearance, Lina Green called me. We met her here, at this very table.
«What was she asking?» I couldn’t stand it.
«Patience, James, I’ll tell you everything.
I remember how it is now: the weather was terrible, it was raining heavily, the black sky stretched beyond the horizon, impenetrable darkness. I still came.
She was very excited.
«Edward, I need your help.
«What’s wrong, Lina?» Are you okay?
«Do you know the editor-in-chief of New Life, Robert Wilson?»
«Do you want to work with him?» I heard a lot of positive things about him. Among other things, he is a very successful journalist and writer. His work is appreciated by critics. If you want to work with him, I can write a good recommendation for you.
«Thank you, Edward, but not now. I left some for Carl Branson. I hope it won’t be important, but I can’t tell you everything right now. I need some information about one machine.
«What car?»
«A red Chevrolet Camaro…
«I’ll try, Lina. I have friends who can help.
«It’s better if they weren’t from the police!»
«Why?» Lina, explain what’s going on, I’m worried about you.
«Edward, you’ll find out, but I can’t tell you anything right now.
I listened to her very attentively, trying not to miss anything. I didn’t know anything, but I was seized by interest and fear at the same time. Lina was very mysterious that evening. I did not pay attention to my own anxiety for her, because Lina was a young, beautiful girl. Who knows, maybe she has love, secrets and all that. There were thoughts that she had fallen in love with Robert Wilson and wanted me to bring them together. You know this old, charming man. Although at that time he was younger and more energetic.
«And you found out about the car?»
«Yes, James, I found out about the car. I called her the same evening.
Year 2002
«Lina, hello again!» You asked me to know about the car. So, I managed to do it, and, as you asked, I did not involve the police. So, for all the time, the car belonged to only three people. Now it belongs to Zachary Miller, and previously it was owned by Garry Brown — he is a district attorney in New York. But the first owner of this car is his father, Nicholas Brown, the sheriff of the city of Cortland. Lina, explain to me…
But she had already hung up.
This story haunted me, I could not contact Lina for several days, but then I learned about her death from the news: she was found on a deserted beach in Lingfield. Then I contacted Carl Branson and went to see him.
«Carl, your mother, what do you know about Lina Green?» She told me about a certain key that she left for you.
«Edward, I don’t know what to do. She was here… Lord, I’m so sorry…
«What do you regret, Karl?»
«That I didn’t stop her!» I could… Lord, I could… God.
«Well, calm down, Karl, let’s go into the house.»
I was shaking, terrified, and panicked, but I tried to keep my composure. When Carl calmed down a bit, he told me about a journalist in New York who was looking for a clue to the murder of Lina Green.
I asked:
«Who is he?»
«His name is Hank Havebrook. He’s a nice guy, originally from Lingfield, he was friends with Lina, he helped her with something…
«Lina didn’t tell me anything about him.
«Maybe she didn’t have time or didn’t consider it necessary.
«Where can I find this Hank Havebrook?»
«He often goes to the local diner and bar.
Afterwards Karl cried, wept loudly. I felt sorry for him, and I patted him on the shoulder in a friendly way and poured him a drink. He drained the glass in one gulp and just collapsed into the chair next to him, obviously he was emotionally exhausted. He needed rest.
I arrived at the bar, and I was lucky: after a while, near the bar, I noticed a man who clearly did not fit in here. You can take it for a journalist’s instinct. I was thinking about how to approach him, where to start, and I decided not to play tricks.
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