Chapter 54

Kate and Jack’s eyes turned to the doorway. Jude clicked his tongue and threw a blunt tone at him as he approached this way.

“You didn’t have to come.”

“What are you talking about? You said I could come, didn’t you? I’ve talked to the director and seeing that I’m off duty, I have to come and see her. Oh, are they your friends?”

“Eh? Oh, yes. I’m Kate Layton. You’re Jude’s…”

“Co-worker. You can say I’m his partner.”

My partner is a dark brown-haired, warm-hearted nice guy, not a fox like this. Jack, who couldn’t tell what was going on inside his head, smiled gladly and asked him to shake hands.

“Hey, this guy looks like he’s in quite a different standard to be Jude’s partner. Hey, Jude. What happened?”

“What the hell, what different standards.”

“No, it’s because your partner looks like a medical or law school graduate. Your name is…?

“Joan, my name is Joan Nelvis. You can just call me Joan.”

“Yes, nice to meet you. Jack Layton, the guy who bullied Jude as a kid, doesn’t he have any post-traumatic syndrome or trauma?”

“Jaa-aa-ck.”

Jude poked Jack in the ribs with his elbow. Jude smiled face to face at Jack, who was laughing out loud jokingly.

“Don’t worry, I won’t be able to stand being hit and teased if I’m getting PTSD. How can I survive with such a glass heart when I run around a bloody scene every day?”

“Oh, it was like that. This one, I can’t even swear in front of you from now on.”

“Jude.”

A quiet voice called his name. At the end of his glance, there was a slightly anxious look. – Anxious look? It was uncharacteristic of him. The little smile disappeared from Jude’s face. The light-brown-haired young man leaned close to Jude and whispered low – but clearly audible to Jack and Kate.

“Would you like to take a look? The case we were in charge of yesterday. Some new facts came out. It’s a bit awkward to talk here.”

“Huh? Oh, uh.”

“Gee, is that what brings you here? That’s a big deal.”

Jack frowned pitifully. Joan smiled.

“I’m sorry, New York police are so busy. Isn’t NYPD that the turnover rate is going up these days?”

“No, that’s not what I’m saying. If you need a place to talk quietly, why don’t you go to the second floor? The kids are down here, so the small reception room there will be empty, too.”

“Yeah, I don’t want to talk about bloody stuff at the party. I’ll be right back.”

A short gaze met in the air. The blue-grey eyes bent slightly as if they were smiling. Jude put the glass he had briefly picked up on the table and slowly headed for the second-floor stairs.

* * *

The second floor was quiet. The sound coming from the lower floor was weak, but that was all. Kkiik, kkiik. Every time his feet stepped on the hallway of the long wooden floor, a slight creak stimulated his ears. Before entering the small reception room, Jude stopped and turned at the end of the long winding hallway. Alvin, who stopped three steps behind, stood in the dimly lit sunlight. A composed, resonant voice rang first.

“-It’s been a long time.”

“That’s true.”

“Thank you for coming.”

Jude looked a little displeased as he turned his gaze. Last night, as promised, the cell phone rang without fail, and Jude’s response on the phone was simple. “I’m coming.” He closed his cell phone after saying that, and the phone call didn’t come back. Alvin smiled. He looked quite different from his smile on the first floor.

“If I ask you why you thought of coming–”

“–You’ll be angry.”

“I will.”

A peal of faint laughter rang in the air. Alvin is one step closer. Flinching, Jude bites his lips. His feet stopped for a moment. The voice was still soft.

“Will you be angry if I hug you since I’m happy to see you?”

The answer didn’t come out. He didn’t know what Alvin took his expressionless face for since he kept his mouth shut, and Alvin slowly moved his feet and stood in front of Jude. His arm, which rose up with a stiff movement as if he was unexpectedly nervous, hugged Jude a little hastily. The smell of shampoo and unknown soap lightly brushed his nose. A faint sigh-like breath burst out. The light brown hair that tickles his neck must be a wig. No, is it dyed? A gentle voice flowed out to his ears.

“……letters, phone calls, news, occasional crossings at the crime scene……that was enough. I thought it was enough to put this emotion to sleep. It’s been like that for a long time. Even when you were far away, my thirst disappeared just by thinking about you.”

“But.”

“It’s not easy anymore. I didn’t know it would be so nice to see you in person. I’m at a loss….. because this is my first time feeling like this.”

“Your first love doesn’t come true. Oh, my God, I’m glad to hear that.”

Alvin laughed briefly. The hand that held him didn’t fall off easily. It was not known whether the warmth that is being passed on now came from his clothes or from his body. A voice without any inflection leaked through Jude’s lips.

“If that feeling gets serious, do you think you can kill me?”

He was silent for a moment. Alvin’s voice, which came out shortly after, was also smooth.

“I don’t think so right now.”

“You’re not sure what’s going to happen?”

“Isn’t that the same with you Jude? It’s rare for people to live with all the maps of their future. Even if you draw it, does time guarantee that you’ll only follow that path?”

His voice bore a faint smile. Jude soon ended up laughing.

“Yes, that’s true.”

“Why did you come today?”

A question that caught him off guard flew in. Closing his eyes in a bit of a languid mood, Jude answered in a passing tone.

“I don’t know. I’m not a person who draws a map of all the reasons for what I do.”

“Was it because of me?”

“……and I’m not the kind of person who has a taste for picking on people who aren’t suspects. If you’re going to do this, get off.”

A peal of cheerful laughter burst out of his hands as he pushed his shoulder away. Alvin, who hugged Jude’s back and shoulders tighter as if he was playing around, opened his mouth with a lulling voice.

“Shall we go in and talk? The reception room, he said it was empty.”

“No.”

A firm voice popped out cutting off Alvin’s words. Alvin suddenly raised his head and looked at Jude. Jude looked at the ceiling with a slight frown.

“What’s wrong? What happened?”

“No, I don’t like the reception room.”

“Why? Did something happen here? Is this where Jack bullied you?”

“No … Rather than that, I’d rather be here.”

He hesitated a little. Alvin’s eyes were asking for an answer. Jude, who was beating his hoof on the floor several times, said with a long sigh of resignation.

“I don’t like the fireplace here.”

“Fireplace?”

“Yeah, there’s a big fireplace, and I feel bad when I see it, so when I stayed here, I didn’t go anywhere near the reception room, even though I didn’t tell the kids because I didn’t want to be teased.”

“Well, you didn’t think a monster might pop out of the fireplace, did you?”

“I don’t know.”

When Jude’s face frowned heavily upon what he said like a joke, the smile faded slightly from Alvin’s face, and Jude’s eyes were slightly out of focus as if he were looking at a distant mountain.

“I don’t know… Whether it’s a ghost or a goblin or a monster. I thought something bad was going to come out. My least favourite place in this orphanage was next to the fireplace in the reception room.”

“…..Really? Why, have you never thought about it?”

“I just didn’t approach it. If I get close to the fire, I’ll only get burned. I guess there was an accident near the fireplace when I was a kid.”

As Jude shrugged, he could hear someone walking up the stairs from below. Jude quickly loosened Alvin’s arm at the kkiik, kkiik sound of footsteps getting closer. After a while, Jude burst into laughter as a doll appeared at the corner of the hallway over there. Dressed neatly in a striped black suit, the man was the host of the party.

“George, what’s going on?”

“Oh, I’ve got something to talk to Lyle about in the reception room. The person next to you is…?”

“Oh, co-worker, co-worker. Joan Nelvis. Joan, that’s George McNeil. Next to him is Lyle Trace. George’s the one who funded most of the party today.”

“Hello, you can just call me Joan.”

“Oh, yes. Nice to meet you. What brings you to the second floor? You don’t enjoy it down there.”

“We came here for a minute to talk about business. Now, we’re going downstairs, so you guys can talk.”

Lyle, a small-built man with thin gold-rimmed glasses, bowed to Alvin as if he were flexing. Maybe there was a twist somewhere, but his narrow forehead was flashing with sweat. The manner of licking his lips and rubbing his palms did not look very comfortable. George’s face was also stiff and deep wrinkles were already formed. If you get wrinkles on your forehead at this age, you’ll suffer from old age earlier. Jude, who only murmured briefly inside, soon passed them and came down to the first floor. It seemed at first glance that Alvin, who was following him from behind, quietly raised his mouth and smiled as if mocking someone.