В эпоху династии Сун вдовам было легко выйти замуж

Глава 17

Helen explained, "Missie said he had a friend named Billy Blue."

Julie continued her analysis: "He was probably in the same class as David Egan. I think he was in the class of '92."

A thought suddenly flashed through Helen's mind, and she excitedly told everyone, "My sister was born in 1992!"

Perhaps there will be clues in the graduation yearbook.

Despite being a black and white photo, the young and adorable David, dressed in a rugby uniform, still has a sunny smile on his face.

Perhaps it was this smile that stung Ray's eyes as he stood by the bed, for he murmured, "That's him? It's hard to believe."

I believe it's him.

“Yes, his face was bruised and battered,” Barry replied nonchalantly. He was lying on the bed with Julie and Helen, carefully examining the scrapbook.

Ray heard this and turned his head away, feeling distressed.

Barry flipped through several pages but couldn't find it. He said suspiciously, "Maybe Blue isn't his real name."

Julie immediately agreed with the guess, looking at Helen and saying, "Yes. It's easy to fool Missy."

Helen nodded: "Perhaps we should show it to Missy."

“She will point him out.”

Ray looked at them, fearful and resistant: "I'm not going anywhere."

The three companions looked up, their stern gazes fixed on his face.

"This is insane! What is this? What does it prove?" Ray shouted, "High school headshots?"

Julie nodded firmly and said, "I'll go."

She turned to Helen and said, "Go to the parade."

"No." The thought that they shouldn't be exposed in public at this time made Helen shake her head reflexively.

Julie firmly convinced her: "No, you need to be there if he shows up."

Helen shuddered: "I don't want him to show up."

"This is our only chance to catch him." Julie's anxious tone betrayed her calm: "I..."

Go to the Missys' house; Barry, you go with Helen to the parade, don't let her out of your sight, in case he shows up..."

"I'll flatten his ass." Without Helen's prompting, Barry couldn't wait any longer; his strong hands pressed the cushion tightly.

Ray didn't want to stand by and watch his friends get into such a dangerous situation; they were being too reckless. This wasn't a children's game: "You're talking like you're some kind of heroic police officers."

Julie exclaimed excitedly, "Today is July 4th, Ray! All the plans he made will happen today!"

We must stop him.

Ray paced anxiously around the bed, making one last effort to prevent things from getting worse: "Julie..."

"Can't you see this is a moment we need to make a decision... Let's make the right decision this time."

Julie shook her head: "I don't care about right or wrong, I just want smart decisions."

Ray earnestly offered his suggestion: "Okay, then let's leave this town and disappear..."

“I’ve disappeared. I’m going to reclaim my life!” Julie was so excited that all her long-held guilt, repression, and struggles erupted like a volcano.

Ray was stunned. Looking into Julie's eyes, he realized that he had approached Julie's heart so deeply for the first time, only to find that he was already so far away from her.

“We have to face this. What’s your decision, Ray?” Julie’s tone was aggressive.

Ray answered with a pained and hesitant expression on his face.

It's that time of year again when the town is busiest. All the residents gather on both sides of the road, with the sound of the waves crashing in the distance behind them, adding to the excitement of their cheers.

The parade began. First, a band led the way, followed by cheerleaders. The young women's athletic figures, tightly bound in uniforms, danced wildly to the exciting drumbeats. Their sexiness and enthusiasm attracted the attention of the crowd, especially...

The men cheered and whistled. Life in the seaside town was usually monotonous and peaceful, so people naturally wanted to let loose at this time. The "Statue of Liberty" on the float, the comical clowns on stilts... drew a second wave of cheers, like waves, each one more enthusiastic than the last.

The parade reached its climax with the appearance of Helen's float. As the reigning beauty queen, Helen, holding a ceremonial staff, sat high atop a seashell-shaped float, like Venus emerging from the sea. Her exquisite face was even more beautiful than the previous year.

Her hair was just as striking as ever, perfectly complementing the laurel wreath on her head. The only difference was that her satin-blonde blonde hair had been cut much shorter, barely reaching her shoulders. People, of course, had no idea of the horrific accident that had occurred the previous night; they probably thought it was just the latest trendy hairstyle in New York.

The crowd began to stir, cheers and screams making the atmosphere somewhat out of control. Helen smiled and waved to the onlookers, but her expression concealed her true feelings.

Despite her reluctance, she could only calm down slightly when she caught a glimpse of Bai Rui sitting in the front of the car.

Barry was also nervous. He warily scanned the crowd on both sides. Happy smiling faces, raised arms—nothing suspicious seemed to be around. He turned his head to the side and looked up to see Helen. He froze, as if seeing his girlfriend from last year's beauty pageant, the one who had stolen the show. Helen's weak smile was almost swallowed by fear and wariness.

She looked around the crowd. When Helen's gaze met Barry's, it was as if a floodgate of memories had been opened. Barry was still as charming as ever; how sweet they had been before the accident... Julie gave Barry a smile, and Barry smiled back. Now they encouraged each other and fought side by side, and it seemed that feeling from before had returned.

Barry turned back, now even more determined to protect Helen.

Helen smiled again and continued waving to the crowd.

The group continued forward, rounding a bend, and as usual, stopped to adjust their pace. Helen, positioned higher, could see over the crowd's heads, gazing into the distance. Suddenly, without warning, Helen saw behind the crowd, in the shadow of a pillar, the terrifying fisherman standing tall, his collar turned up, his fisherman's hat obscuring half his face. Helen cried out urgently, "

"Berry, Berry! There she is."

Barry immediately looked in the direction she pointed, and the fisherman's departing figure came into view. He jumped out of the car, shouting "Make way!" as he pushed through the crowd and chased after him.

The convoy continued onward, and Helen gradually lost sight of Barry. "Please, please, nothing bad should happen," she prayed silently.

Barry ran quickly to the wooden walkway on the shore, and sure enough, the black figure in a raincoat and hood was right in front of him. Without hesitation, Barry pounced on him, pinning the fisherman firmly to the plank. He grabbed the fisherman by the collar, but just as he pulled his fist out, he froze. The fisherman was nearly sixty years old, his face covered in wrinkles, his mouth agape, almost all his teeth missing. Clearly bewildered and terrified, he couldn't speak.

Barry realized he'd been tricked by that bastard and cursed angrily, "Damn it! Where is he?"

He looked around, but it was too late; the fisherman had long since vanished.

The afternoon sun shone through the grove, and the dappled shadows of the trees on the walls of Egan's wooden house swayed occasionally.

A car rushed up, and Julie jumped out. She walked to Egan's house, holding her graduation yearbook, and gently knocked on the door, but no one answered.

"Missie? Missy?" Only the screen door was locked, so Julie guessed that Missy probably hadn't gone out.

She looked back and saw a seabird drying on the lawn in front of the door. A gust of wind blew, and the poor creature swayed back and forth in the air. It must have been recently slaughtered, because blood was still dripping from its hanging neck. The edge of the lawn met a dense grove of trees. A quiet afternoon silence prevailed, broken only by the sound of the wind and the chirping of birds. It was there that Julie saw a simple little wooden house and its low, sloping wooden walls.

Julie walked slowly over. Perhaps it was the workshop; as she got closer, Julie could see more clearly that the walls were covered with animal hides and skulls. Julie suddenly felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

Just as he was about to turn around, Missy suddenly rushed out from the side, nervously brandishing a sharp knife.

Julie was startled and cautiously took a step back: "Please..."

Missy stared at her suspiciously; there weren't many strangers here.

Julie quickly explained, "Missie, do you remember me? There was a problem with the car two days ago?"

Missy sized up Julie, the image slowly resurfacing in her mind. She sheathed the knife in her hand and asked, "

What are you doing here?

On the other side, the town's parade was still in full swing, and it seemed that everyone in the houses had come out and crowded both sides of the street.

Helen, sitting on the float, was no longer concerned about any of that; she was extremely anxious because she hadn't seen Barry return yet.

Now she was all alone. Where was the fisherman? Where was he? Where had he hidden himself? Helen strained to scan the crowd.

But this is, after all, a fishing village, and almost every family has a man working on their boat. This man over there, wearing a fisherman's hat...

No, it wasn't the fisherman in the raincoat over there either. There was another fisherman, and another fisherman... but none of these excited and familiar faces were the same.

The float passed a row of white buildings, and from above, Helen sitting inside, looking around anxiously, was clearly visible. Suddenly, something made Helen uneasy; her muscles tensed. She involuntarily looked up, and there stood that terrifying figure on the second-floor balcony, watching her every move. The fisherman pulled out his hook, formally announcing to Helen: a bloody battle was about to begin.

Helen was terrified. But no one noticed, and the parade continued its lively procession. Helen, on the bus, watched helplessly as the persistent ghost disappeared from sight.

Flies buzzed around a fish. A sharp knife chopped it in two. Missy stood at the workbench in front of the cabin, talking to Julie as she worked.

Julie pleaded earnestly, "Missie, we need to talk. I must find your brother's friend."

“Billy, I need to talk to him. Maybe… you could look through this scrapbook?” Julie said, picking up the scrapbook and cautiously approaching Missy’s workbench.

This girl has appeared time and again, as if she has some purpose. Missy brandished her bloodstained knife, asking warily, "

What exactly happened?

Julie touched the scrapbook in her hand, unsure where to begin. She said with difficulty, "It's too crazy to explain."

"That's crazy, but it's related to your brother and last year's Independence Day."

Missy suddenly looked up, surprised, and asked, "What happened?"

Julie swallowed hard. She knew how painful it would be to tell the truth, but only now did she realize how unprepared she was. Julie felt as if her tongue had frozen: "What happened to your brother…"

…It wasn't an accident. Well, how should I put it…actually…there's more to it than meets the eye.”

Upon hearing this, Missy lowered her head again and continued working, her calm tone concealing a deep sorrow:

I know."

Julie was quite surprised. How could someone else know? She asked cautiously, "What do you know?"

"

Missy looked up and told Julie quite calmly, "He committed suicide."

“Him what?” Julie was stunned; the question disrupted all the thoughts in her mind.

“He went there to commit suicide because that’s where Susie died. The whole town blamed him for her death, so he blamed himself too.” Missy tried her best not to let her calm tone reveal any resentment or sadness.

"How do you know it was suicide?" Julie asked, increasingly shocked.

Missy looked at Julie, not understanding why she was so interested in this. Missy shook the blood off her hands and said...

"He left a note," he said, turning and walking into the small wooden hut behind him, filled with furs, rummaging through the clutter. When asked why he had placed such important belongings in such a place, Missy explained, "I had to hide them so the insurance company wouldn't..."

Si realized that suicide wouldn't get him the money.

A moment later, Missy pulled out a crumpled piece of paper, handed it to Julie, shrugged, and said, "Already..."

It doesn't matter anymore, the money's already spent anyway.

For a moment, Julie thought she was seeing things. She smoothed out the creases on the note, but she was absolutely right. It was these handwritings that had brought them to this point. The handwriting was neat and orderly, every letter capitalized, and almost identical in size: I will never forget last summer.

Julie shook her head in horror and cried out, "This isn't a suicide note, it's a threatening letter!"

Missy looked at Julie, whose expression had changed drastically, with a puzzled expression: "What are you talking about?"

“Your brother didn’t commit suicide, Missy. I saw him, and the person who wrote this letter was there too.” Julie could no longer hide the truth; she had to tell Missy the truth. If this was a carefully orchestrated scheme, then this opponent was terrifying. He had long since taken control of the situation, manipulating them like a cat playing with mice before the slaughter.

Missy grew anxious and asked, "What do you mean? Where have you seen him before?"

Everything that happened that night flashed through Julie's mind, causing a dull ache in her nerves. Missy would never forgive them; perhaps she would immediately call the police. The prison doors seemed to be open, but Julie knew she had to speak out now: