Héritière sans égale

Chapitre 13

"Have you seen him at school?" Julie asked as they walked. "The school is very big. Did you see him come back?"

"

Helen said curtly, "I saw his car at the gym."

Julie sensed something was amiss and asked, "Have you all left?"

Barry saw them as soon as they entered the courtyard, but he didn't come out to greet them; clearly, he wasn't very welcoming to the two. Now that they were in front of the house, he could no longer remain silent.

"Hey, what are you doing here?"

The two girls looked up and saw Barry wearing a vest walking out of the balcony.

Helen lit a cigarette at some point, and Julie stared at her friend in surprise, wondering when Helen had developed this bad habit.

"Hi, Barry," Helen greeted him casually, just like always.

But Barry wasn't stupid. At this moment, the two girls' visit couldn't be just a simple greeting; there was only one explanation: something had happened.

The door opened. The two girls exchanged a glance, and Julie led the way inside.

Clearly, Barry didn't take it that seriously. "'I know what you guys did last summer'...nonsense!" he yelled nonchalantly. "It's no big deal!"

“We need help,” Helen said anxiously.

“Help? I say, you two really should take a good look in the mirror,” Barry said leisurely, looking the two girls up and down like a flirtatious scoundrel: “You’re horribly ugly.”

“You…you’re a bastard!” Helen shouted angrily.

Julie stopped the impulsive Helen and said to Barry, "You can't just stand by and do nothing."

Barry understood that everyone involved was implicated, but he found it hard to imagine that on that quiet summer night last year, as they dealt with this matter on that deserted beach, there was another pair of eyes watching them! This made him uncomfortable, even somewhat frightened. There was definitely no other person there, unless it was a ghost.

“That’s utterly absurd!” Barry didn’t want to get his thoughts caught up in those illogical deductions. “Maybe…”

The two things are completely unrelated; you did a lot more last summer.”

“But there’s only one murder,” Julie replied coldly.

Barry was terrified by the word and hurriedly hissed in a low voice, "Shut up!" He then cautiously looked back—the door to the inner room was open, but his mother was engrossed in a phone conversation and hadn't noticed what was happening here at all.

Barry lowered his voice and insisted, "We didn't murder anyone."

“He wasn’t dead when you pushed him down,” Julie said painfully. That scene from last summer had haunted her dreams countless times, waking her each time drenched in sweat. She couldn’t tell anyone about this mental torment, but now she had to confront the problem.

Helen hadn't expected Julie to bring up the matter again, and to label it murder. She had helped Barry push the man overboard; in truth, no one would feel good in that situation, and Helen was also tormented by her conscience, though she had avoided thinking about it. Now, this nightmare resurfaced like a needle piercing her heart, shattering her avoidance strategy. She had no choice but to interrupt their argument, pleading helplessly, "..."

Do I have to tell you again? It was… an accident.

“His name is…” Julie took a breath and slowly said a name: “David Egan.”

"

"Who?" Barry was taken aback.

“David Egan, he was found three weeks later,” Julie said calmly. “His body was trapped near the dock.”

The news has even reached the shrimp nets of the area, making headlines. "The police said it was an accidental drowning," she gave a bitter smile, "but the truth is... he was killed because of us."

And died.

Barry didn't say anything. He looked at the two girls, and after a while, he asked, "Where's Ray? Did you show him?"

?

Julie shook her head: "I haven't seen him since last summer." She glanced at the other person's puzzled look.

She added, "We broke up. I heard he went up north."

Barry scratched his head, muttering to himself in confusion, "Even if someone saw it that night, why a year later?"

Just sent a message? I said... it's a madman messing around..."

Suddenly, a thought struck him: "...Max!"

Helen was taken aback; she didn't understand Barry's idea, but Julie did.

"Max? You mean Max?"

The scene of that summer night flashed before Barry's eyes again, and he nodded firmly: "Who else? Him."

Present.

The town's fish farm was a small area. Apart from a few storage and transshipment warehouses for fish, the spacious courtyard in front contained only some fishing nets and a few overturned boats. A strong, lingering fishy smell permeated the air. Few people usually wandered around here.

Barry was no stranger to this small fishing ground; it was their childhood playground, where he often played as a child. Although he hadn't been here for many years since he grew up, he still knew everything about it very well.

Barry strode towards the old house where the fish were initially processed. As he neared the door, he turned and gave instructions to Julie and Helen.

"You two stay here."

Julie asked worriedly, "What are you going to do?"

"I know what I'm doing."

Inside the processing room, Max was moving a basket of fish. Suddenly, the sunlight in the doorway dimmed, and he looked up in confusion.

“Oh, look, what a coincidence, I was just thinking... I wonder how Barry is doing…” Although the sunlight was coming from behind the person, making his face appear very dark in the backlight, Max still recognized Barry.

Barry said in a low voice, "Hey, Max, let's talk..." He glanced around and added.

"Find a place where no one is around."

"Isn't this place considered deserted?"

Behind the processing area is a large cold storage room, with huge blocks of ice piled up around it to preserve fresh fish. Therefore, even in summer, the temperature here remains very low.

"Okay, what's up?" Max asked curiously after bringing Barry inside.

Barry suddenly grabbed Max, slammed him onto the ice, and roared viciously, "We received your..."

I believe it.

"What?" Max was completely bewildered by the attack.

"Stop messing with me! You saw us!" Barry grabbed Max by the neck like a madman, spitting in his face.

Max was getting anxious: "What kind of drugs did you take?"

Barry grabbed a fishhook hanging from a nearby pillar and placed it around Marx's neck, the sharp point pressed against his cheek.

"Good heavens!" Max gasped. He dealt with fishhooks every day and knew their power—it didn't take much effort to slit a person with such a hook, and he didn't want to be hung up like a fish.

“I’ll only say this once, stay away from me! Killing you is no problem for me. Understand?” Barry’s warning sounded sinister, but it was more than just a warning, because then Barry tightened his grip on the hook, the sharp tip leaving a shallow gash on Max’s face, but enough to make Max almost faint from fright.

Barry didn't actually intend to hang Max up; he tossed the hook aside and walked away.

Max jumped up, clutching the wound on his face, and shouted, "You bastard!"

He reached for the hook, but didn't move. He didn't dare to actually fight Barry, and besides, he knew the consequences of fighting a rich kid without even trying. All he could do was stand there and curse.

"Don't mess with me, you filthy bastard! I'll call the police and deal with you."

Perhaps these words can offer him some comfort.

Outside the fish farm, Julie, Helen, and Barry walked back to their car.

Julie asked anxiously, "Did he admit it?"

Barry didn't answer directly, but simply said, "He won't bother you anymore."

Julie pressed on, still uneasy, "What did you do?"

"I've got it sorted out."

"How did you manage to get it done?" Julie still didn't understand.

Barry grew impatient. He stopped, turned to Julie, and said, "I scared him half to death, didn't I?"

He looked up and suddenly froze.

Ray was sitting on a boat, watching them.

"Another one I don't want to see," Barry muttered. "Damn it." The three of them walked over.

Ray was wearing a vest and looked tanned and more muscular.

Barry exclaimed dramatically, "Hey, look! It's Ray. Ah... so he'll be a fisherman when he grows up."

"

“Yes. Almost a year…” Ray answered calmly, then pointed into the distance: “On that ship.”

……Work."

Barry gave a forced, nonchalant laugh: "Ah, that's great." But it was clear he didn't feel anything at all.

"What's so great about that job?" he asked. Then, turning to the two girls, he said, "Have a good time, I'm leaving now."

Clearly, Barry had no intention of catching up with these old friends. In his view, they weren't on the same level. He had come here to resolve that thorny issue, and now that he had dealt with that annoying fellow with his superior skills, the rest was none of his concern. So, without waiting for anyone else's reply, he strode off.

Ray had always known Barry's character well. He simply watched Barry's departing figure quietly, remained silent for a moment, then turned to Julie and asked, "Do you have time?"

Helen realized that she seemed superfluous in this situation, so the best option was to disappear as soon as possible.

"Oh, right, I have to go back to work." She said hurriedly to Julie, as if suddenly realizing that it was getting late.

"Give me your phone number...let's get together sometime."

The following sentence also included an invitation to Ray, but Ray ignored it. Fortunately, Helen understood that this sentence, like Barry's praise of Ray's work, was nothing but empty politeness; anyone who believed it would be incredibly foolish.

(5)

Helen is gone.

Only Julie and Ray remained.

“We should talk,” Julie said.

Ray carried a box of seafood out of the small warehouse, and Julie walked beside him.

"You mean... it was Max who did it?"

"That's what Barry thinks. I don't know."

Ray, recalling how infatuated Max used to be with Julie, said, "You know how Max feels about you..."

He was utterly bored; it wasn't a big deal.