Chapter 5

That afternoon the sky went dark and heavy, the wind whipped up out of nowhere, and before long the rain came down in sheets.

Veronica had gone to the school to supervise weekend study hall, and Ethan was at his tutoring class.

I sat alone on the couch at home, at my wits' end. Ivor's phone had been switched off the whole time. I called the front desk at the motel, and they told me the old man with the cane had checked out and left half an hour ago.

He'd run.

Dragging a leg that had just come out of surgery, refusing to so much as pick up my call, he'd just run.

Why, though? A plain, honest man who'd spent his whole life scraping by in the countryside — why would the mere mention of using his ID to buy a house scare him like that?

I grabbed my car keys, planning to head to the bus terminal and catch him before he left.

That was when it happened.

"Knock, knock, knock."

A knocking came at the door, steady and firm and perfectly measured, cutting through the thunder and rain outside, filling the quiet living room.

Thinking it was the property office coming to collect the water bill, I walked over and pulled the door open.

A man stood outside.

He was around fifty, wearing an impeccably tailored dark gray suit, a solid black leather briefcase in one hand. Even holding an umbrella, his leather shoes hadn't picked up a speck of dirt.

A man dressed like that would never live in an ordinary, run-down housing compound like ours.

"Excuse me… who are you here to see?" I studied him warily, my hand tight on the door handle.

The man lowered his umbrella a little, his sharp eyes sweeping across my face, the kind of look you give to something you're pricing up before a sale.

"Are you Theodore Fox? Mr. Fox?" he said, his voice low and clearly enunciated, carrying an air of professional authority that left no room for doubt.

"I am. Who are you?"

The man didn't answer right away. He drew a gold-embossed business card from his pocket and held it out to me with both hands.

I looked down: 【Dehler & Associates, Washington, D.C. — Senior Partner, Theodore James】.

A lawyer from the capital? Looking for me?

"Mr. Fox, forgive the intrusion." Lawyer James's expression was grave, carrying even a faint edge of pressure. "I've come today on someone's behalf, to hand over a very important legal document to you."

"On whose behalf?" I frowned. I couldn't recall having any dealings whatsoever with the legal circles of the capital.

Lawyer James didn't answer the question. Instead, he opened the leather briefcase, and from inside took out a manila envelope, sealed shut tight.

Across the flap was a wax seal, stamped years ago.

He handed the envelope to me. "Mr. Fox, this concerns a matter from thirty years ago. I need you to open it right now."

Baffled, I took the envelope and tore the seal.

What slid out was an agreement, the paper already yellowed, some of it brittle to the point of cracking.

At the very top, in bold black type, four large characters: 【TOP SECRET AGREEMENT】.

Puzzled, I unfolded the paper, my eyes racing across the first few lines, then landing at the very bottom, on the signature and the fingerprint.

In that instant.

There was a roar inside my skull, as if I'd been struck by a heavy hammer. Every drop of blood in me ran backward at once, and even my breathing stopped.

My hands began to shake violently, that thin sheet of paper suddenly heavier than a thousand pounds, and I could barely keep hold of it as my legs gave out and my back slammed hard into the doorframe.

"What… what does this mean?"

My head snapped up, my bloodshot eyes fixed on the lawyer in front of me, my voice so hoarse I didn't recognize it myself.

"This can't be… this absolutely can't be! How could he… how is this possible!"

Lawyer James watched me on the verge of breaking, no trace of sympathy in his eyes, only a cold, businesslike detachment.

He took a step forward, against the wind and rain outside, lowered his voice, and said to me, one word at a time:

"Mr. Fox, don't doubt your own eyes."

"Ivor Whitney hid this from you. For thirty full years."