Path of the Dead Prequel: Wings of Silver

Old Qian's distracted eyes scanned each of our faces one by one. He definitely did not expect that the inside story of our investigation into the two sheep was far beyond the limit of his imagination. Anyone involved, regardless of national detectives, cable channels or Channel 9, will continue to dig out more information on this basis, and the confidentiality agreement on the table is equivalent to nothing.

"This is the basic situation at the moment, old money, we can guarantee that not a single word heard while sitting here today will be leaked. But there were twenty or thirty national detectives gathered in the bar downstairs, including those from Durham and those from Atlanta. In addition, there are many TV stations. If you want people not to think about it, you won't be able to do that. Lao Dai paced back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back and sighed:"The more we forbid others from digging, the more people will talk about it. The matter of Ligeia and Grant is so secret, now it will be revealed to the world." What? In my opinion, old money, let's just do this"

"you say."Old Qian suddenly jumped up from the bed, paced with the detective, and couldn't wait to ask for the prescription.

"We can only do the investigation up to today, and what you just said will never be mentioned, how about it? In fact, if you didn’t tell me about Xiaojie, I wouldn’t have thought of it even if I broke my head. Since I can't think of it, the national detective can't even think of it. Ingram is a thing of the past, and even if the full extent of his crimes were revealed, it wouldn't have any impact on you. And your family is in the present tense, and that's what matters most. I try to draw attention to other public events, and I'm on the phone with the cable station right now."

I grabbed the phone with understanding and dialed Rosa's number. Soon, a tired yet surprising voice remembered that she seemed to be in a very noisy place, with people typing on keyboards all around. and whispers

"Well, I'm back in Atlanta. I heard that you carried Krys out of the hole in the early morning? awesome."She muttered a few perfunctory words and started half-heartedly busy with the work at hand. The detective opened his mouth to Lao Qian, as if to ask if he saw it. Others were probably working on the manuscript overnight, waiting for the headlines to come out tomorrow. I did what Lao Dai meant. He asked them to slow down for a moment, but before they finished speaking, Rosa immediately jumped up and said,"Are you kidding me? All cable TV stations have made arrangements. Tomorrow they will ask people to go to Shixia to bring the victims' remains to the surface. Then they will rush to Brooks to dig up the inside story of the boxwood burial case. In the next few days, there will be a commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the mining accident. Review of the topic, are you telling me this now? Is it too late? Could it be that Dixie asked you to disrupt the situation?"

"No, you misunderstood. What I meant was that you should wait for a while, because we plan to visit Ingram’s burial place tomorrow morning. There may be even more unexpected inside stories, what do you think? This is why Lao Dai asked me to make this call"

"Let me listen, your name is Alex, okay, Alex, you did a great job this time, our special news group has been discussing you!"A furious voice sounded. The person grabbed the phone and shouted:"I am the head of the news department of the cable station. I am fully responsible for this matter. I also feel that it is not considered properly. Of course, the more explosive content that can be mined, the better. So, where are you going to go tomorrow morning? I can ask them all to stop first, not just for half a day, but for one day! I'll have Rosa come to you immediately!"

Twenty minutes later, the national detectives waiting in the bottom hall swarmed up and packed the guest room. In front of everyone, Lao Dai made up another version for them. Of course, these were all pre-determined. Lao Dai Money is helpless. The facts are no longer under his control. On this basis, we can only bring our perspective to dig into the incident 40 years ago. Military doctors, coaches, and four-eyed women are such experienced people, even if they are silently Listen, you have already guessed that the ring is a relic, and there is a subtle connection between Lao Qian and Ingram. However, these people are not young guys after all, and they know how to respect the privacy of others. Therefore, everyone knows it well, but they absolutely Without revealing anything, they all agreed to gather downstairs in the hotel tomorrow morning to find the grave of the crew-cut man and completely close the case.

Marlowe suddenly saw so many people who were like him, and he was so excited that he almost lost his breath. He danced and said, if he had known that our place was so busy, he should have met us earlier. I was also a little proud, after all, only I knew the secret of where Ingram's tomb was, so I patted my chest and boasted about it. Unexpectedly, as soon as I walked out of the door, I saw a Pontiac parked in front of me. Two strange and beautiful women jumped out, pushed me into the car, and then shouted to the driver to drive quickly.

"In this bright world, under the bright moon, do you dare to kidnap someone on the street?"Glasses exclaimed and started running after the car.

"You go back first, these are all acquaintances. But I took my time and waved my hand to reassure him. Then I looked at the people beside me and asked,"Rosa, what do you want to do?" Coming to Peachtree Corner so soon? I thought you would wait for me at the waterfront"

"Go to the Marriott!"She snapped her fingers and introduced the two women who just pushed me into the car. They are from their public relations department. The superior supervisor asked a few people to take me to a high-end hotel to arrange accommodation, so that I could be energetic enough to continue digging into this matter tomorrow morning. Although Rosa claimed that she was doing it as a courtesy to the landlord, I knew very well that I was being put under house arrest by them to prevent Channel 9 from getting involved.

This high-end hotel on Technology Avenue in Norcross, The price of a standard package is more than 700, and they specially requested a double room with a price of more than 1,400, which not only has a fire, surround sound, home theater, but also a small terrace swimming pool. Rosa said that this is their cable station reception In the private room of an important client, I don’t have to think about anything. I just want to completely relax and sleep.

Then there is a series of special services, including two beauties surrounded by them, kissing them passionately in the swimming pool, sitting on the terrace and looking at the night view, and Eating a fruit plate brought to me by others, it was truly a feast of wine and meat, extravagant, the pinnacle of life, the ultimate in enjoyment. The two female publicists quietly left at midnight, and I couldn't hide my inner excitement. Let's chat

"You guys really do everything you can to find my weak spot every time. Are those two prostitutes also your colleagues?"

"How is it possible? He was invited from the wine shop. She threw herself next to me with a sneer, and asked:"Alex, you are still so young and have suffered a lot in life. You should enjoy it more personally. Now tell me, where is he buried?""

"I had been to the church garden near the waterfront at Peachtree Corner in The Nightmare, so I mentioned to the detective that I wanted to take a look around the place. As for where it is, you will naturally see it if you follow me tomorrow. I lit up a cigarette, glanced at her pretty face, and said,"To be honest, I'm afraid that Dixie will find out about this. Where did they go after you came out of the tunnel?" Besides, you don’t have to go home?"

"They left with the Dream Catcher. The raw diamonds they brought out could not be hidden on their bodies for too long, and it would be difficult to get rid of them immediately, so Rabbit said he knew a group of dark world jewelry merchants called Glittering Night Lights and could introduce them to them. We know each other and let them estimate it. Look, Dixie was talking to me about this two hours ago, but she has forgotten about you."Rosa raised her cell phone, then kept silent, talked to her supervisor on the phone, leaned on the bedside, took out a cigarette, and smiled:"Alex, you obviously have the face of a bastard rich second generation, why? Are your thoughts as old-fashioned as those of my father’s generation? Why do people work? Because you have to make a living. Why do people struggle? Because I want to improve my quality of life, of course I want to go home, but what exactly is the meaning of home?"

"I never thought about this, but Dixie said that the meaning of home is a cage. Admittedly, I don't agree with her."

"Home is a haven for the soul, an atmosphere where you can talk, and a place where you can forget your worries. But running something like a home requires people to work hard outside. When a man and a woman meet for the first time, they fall in love at first sight, but living together is a completely different matter. After all, love cannot be eaten as it is too realistic and too expensive. If you stare at the same face every day, you will get bored no matter how stunning it is. In the end, it becomes an obligation to stick to the original, and many people can't stick to it. This is why the divorce rate in the United States remains high."

"This kind of thing is similar in big cities in the United States and France. I heard that you and Dixie were classmates."

"It's much worse, okay? The social welfare in France is better than that in the United States, and people there can still live in peace. The United States is a country of immigrants, and social competition is not only fierce but even cruel. There will always be people who are prettier than you and have lower prices than you, who can take your position at any time. At first we thought that home was more important than anything else, but in fact we have been on the road of constant retreat. Dixie is a heartthrob. She has a very gentle personality. She was called a honeypot in college. She is also a bit carefree, so she is very popular. She smoked a cigarette and stood up, kissed me on the forehead, and said,"Go to rest early. I will replace Morning Call tomorrow morning.""

At nine o'clock the next morning, many unfamiliar faces appeared behind the Old Money Hotel, where all the doubts gathered and where Ligeia and Ingram were born. Downton Bookstore is still there, but it's no longer where it once was. The city is bright, and the dilapidated buildings still stand in a gray corner of the street, with a poorly managed restaurant on the ground floor. Here, many buildings that have been separated for more than half a century have been completely preserved, even if you hold the original photos in your hands. By comparison, you can still see the shadow of its past.

Using the street corner as a starting point, the crowd crossed the deep alley where the old shoemaker lived, took photos in front of the bookstore, and then walked along the street garden to the opposite side of the waterfront. They walked for about five minutes. Minutes later, the end of the journey was reached, and an exterior wall painted with white powder appeared in front of us. It was simple and mottled, soaked in the erosion of the rings of time, and formed a huge contrast with a tall crabapple tree that poked out of the wall. Like charcoal fire The bright and dazzling flowers bent the branches, and the crystal morning dew rolled among the young leaves, making them full of vitality.

People sat on the steps of this church, waiting silently for the door to open. Two station wagons drove up from a distance, and Sister Di was She hurriedly touched up her makeup, and then, under Marlowe's guidance, she walked towards us. She seemed to understand that she had slighted me, and lowered her head the moment their eyes met. Fortunately, this embarrassment did not last long, because the person behind her The door was opened by the bishop's assistant.

When he saw so many people standing or sitting in front of the door, the young man couldn't help but look shocked. He didn't know what auspicious day today was and where could so many devout believers come from. He ran back to the door.. Soon a white-haired priest walked out, raised the frame of his glasses and asked,"What are you doing here with everyone gathered around?" Even so, he still led people in and turned on all the lights.

Rosa's style was different from Dee's. Sister, she likes to state the purpose of her visit straightforwardly. The priest stopped after hearing this and said that although there are many tombstones in the garden, it is the pure land of the dead. And if he goes to war with us, he will definitely mess up the place. I really think about it. Only a few people could go in, and large camera equipment was not allowed to be moved in. Seeing that this matter was not negotiable, she had to give in and let her photographer hold a Sony DV and follow Lao Dai and I into the path.

When we were in the garden , There has been no change for forty years. With the black soil under my feet and all kinds of nameless night flowers beside my hands, I quickly found the symbol in the nightmare, the crabapple tree sticking out of the wall. Ingram once set a grave in this church, and the priest once asked where to find him in the future. Obviously, this person was basically responsible for the aftermath of his burial.

"According to the priest, the burial place is at the other end of the garden, not here."While walking, I described my appearance to the white-haired priest. He frowned and thought for a long time, and said,"The person you are looking for may be Father Dominic, but he died of cirrhosis of the liver in 1981."

"Well, we will also go to sprinkle water later, but this time we came not mainly to pay homage to him."Lao Dai nodded with a smile and urged Rosa and Sister Di behind him to follow. In this way, a group of six people and I slowly arrived under the crabapple tree.

Among the full-grained black soil, there were several fat earthworms crawling, a The sharp-edged square tombstones are inserted diagonally. The fonts on the top have become blurred due to years of rain erosion. From time to time, petals fall down, bringing with them a few beetles. The fonts on the tombstones are barely legible, and are engraved with the years 1911-1956 In 1999, Jerome Brandon was buried here.

"this!"When I saw the engraved name clearly, I couldn't believe my eyes. I not only rubbed my eyes and took a few steps forward, but also continued to lie down on the ground and take a closer look. The deceased buried under the soil was not Ingram, but a man named Jero. Mu's people. Thinking of it, I got up and screamed loudly:"It's absolutely true, the priest and he were standing here, but why is this happening?"

As soon as these words came out, several people behind her murmured. Rosa said that she would stop looking for her out of sympathy. Maybe she made a mistake? The subtext was that she opened champagne for you last night. Beautiful girl, you just made such a mistake for everyone?

"I believe you won't make a joke about this."Lao Dai nodded, took a few steps back and put his hands behind his back and said,"The location is under this tombstone. I also saw Father Dominic. He was standing under the begonia flowers holding the trunk of the tree, looking at us.."

After saying this, Rosa couldn't help but feel excited. She hurriedly jumped away from the shade of the tree. Getting closer, she began to ask Lao Dai how he saw it, and the detective replied with the word"judge". Fortunately, these words were not heard. The priest listened, otherwise he might be denounced as a heretic. He turned to look at the back of the tombstone and murmured to himself. After half a cigarette, he suddenly slapped his forehead, as if he remembered something.

"Three one two, three one two, that’s it."The priest pointed to the number half submerged in the black soil, which was written in red paint, and sighed:"Priest Dominic said before he died that one day, people will come to this tombstone and wander around and ask many questions.. He originally thought that this day would come in his lifetime, but it never came, so he left a suitcase behind and said that if anyone came to ask who the owner of the tomb was, he should make the documents inside public. I'll have people move it down in a few minutes."

Eleven minutes later, the assistant bishop who opened the door came down from the north building of the church carrying a suitcase. When the national detectives sitting on the benches heard about the drama, they rushed to the walkway under the grapevines to watch. The suitcase was opened, and inside was A pile of messy books and diaries was covered with a black shirt. When it was uncovered, a piece of paper fell out, with a line of beautiful letters that were as good as printing.

"If there are angels in the world, then Jerome is the closest person to an angel I have ever met in my life."

This paragraph of words that subverted everyone's ideas immediately attracted repeated exclamations. Why would a serial killer be called an angel by a respected old priest? How many secrets are hidden in it? People couldn't wait and rushed forward to squeeze away. The bishop's assistant arranged the items one by one on the stone bench. Marlowe felt that this matter was not trivial and must be dismantled by Ingram's own flesh and blood. He hurriedly turned around and ran out of the church, heading towards the hotel in a noisy way.

The strong voyeuristic desire and curiosity struck everyone's heart. The national detective was afraid that after the arrival of Lao Qian, he would use some privacy rights to prohibit everyone from reading, so he took advantage of this gap to start checking in groups, and soon found a relevant paragraph. Account.

It turned out that Jerome was the original name of the flat-headed man. He was a die-hard who had never joined the church in his life. Father Dominic had tried to persuade him many times, but the man always shook his head and said nothing. As time went by, the two of them stopped talking. Looking at this matter, they became friends in private. Jerome often confided his inner anguish to Dominic, so the priest knew everything about him. In the winter of 1911, Jerome was born in Peachtree Corners City. His parents died in a train derailment when he was six months old. No one in the carriage was spared, but the baby miraculously survived.