BBDW 58 [Black Butterfly] - Nevereverland

Section 60 (UNEDITED)

"What's going on?"

"What happened? Did you find anything?"

Lyle and Kate entered the small room with puzzled faces. Discovering Jack with a stiff face, Kate sat next to him with a worried look on her face. Lyle stood in place and fumbled, and soon carefully settled down in a chair a little away from them. Jack's teary eyes jerked from Alvin to Lyle. Lyle shrivelled up. Alvin, who alternated between the three, slowly opened his mouth after some time after Jude sat down.

"Well, let's hear it. What is it that Jack wants to find out?"

"You ... !"

"What’s wrong, according to you, either Mr Trace, or your wife, or you, everyone knows that. I don't think it's going to be a big problem if you ask since everyone is here right now. And despite knowing it, you're still in love with your wife."

"Yeah, Jack, just cooperate. This is part of the investigation, so I can't help it."

"What are you talking about? Jack, what's going on?"

Jack covered his mouth with his fist as if he felt uncomfortable. Kate's eyes are wide open. Holding her husband's tough knuckles with her small hands, she looked back at Jude with an uneasy face.

"Jude, what's going on? What happened?"

"Oh, well... between you and George..."

"Stop, stop! How come you're telling her to bring that up in front of you, how long has Kate been hurt? Jude, you're not doing that either! How could you do this to us, no matter how much of an investigation it is!"

"Jack, what are you saying..."

"Oh, my God, how can I say that with my own mouth...!"

Jack jerked his head away with a red face. Kate's face, staring blankly at Jack, had strong disbelief. Kate, who was looking at Jack as if she had lost her soul, headed for the squeaky Jude. Her voice was as thin as a thread.

"You... you know that? What happened with George... that?"

"Yeah, well, someone told me. And I thought it was pretty important, so I called to ask."

"You're... you're asking me to tell you that, you know, you're calling me in front of my couple and to say it? Just like that, with a face that doesn't matter...."

Something's not right? Jude shut up for a moment. He couldn't understand the anger on Kate's small face. Why does George’s one-sided love for Kate hurt this couple? Even if he sent flowers or letters, I don't think it's going to cause this much of a reaction? Alvin's face was just as serious when he looked back. Jude answered briefly.

"It's necessary."

“You.......you are really too much.......”

Kate let out a bleak smile. Kate, who alternately looked at the ceiling, the corners of the room and the furniture with a dumbfounded face, soon looked at the floor for a moment and said.

"Jack, just tell him."

"Kate, how can I do that in front of you..."

"He said he needs it. Tell him, they already know."

Jack jumped out of his seat. His breath was rough. Jack, who held Kate's hand and shook his head several times, sat back after quite a long time. His face, as he presses down on the temples, was shaking like he was crying. Jude took notice of his mouth in a slightly curious mood. The heaving voice was filled with hostility and anger.

"About half a year ago, George invited Kate to an event at his company. Then Kate said she didn't want to go quite repulsively, and I thought it was a little weird, so I asked. Why do you hate George so much? Then Kate hesitated for a long time and finally told me."

"What is it?"

Jack looked at Alvin with a tearful face. After staring at Alvin for a moment, he soon chewed a sentence out.

"When she was in the orphanage, she was raped by George."

The air froze for a moment. Jude momentarily stared at Jack with his eyes enlarged, a bit taken aback. Alvin was also facing him with slightly stunned eyes. Kate clenched her eyes shut and squeezed Jack's hand. Lyle looked back at the couple abruptly with the face of a person who was struck at the soul. Jack, who was holding his wife's hand, continued in a distorted voice.

"That's when I found out. Why Kate wanted to leave the orphanage so early. Like a fool... I didn't even think about the reason why she was so happy about it."

"......wait, Jack......she, Kate was raped by George?"

"Yes, I often had nightmares. What do you keep asking when you already know?"

There was a mocking pout in her voice. Jude shrugged as he looked at Jack without saying a word for a moment. The words didn't come out any sooner.

"Uh......we, honestly, we just found out."

"......what?"

Jack's face went blank. Alvin, too, looked back at Lyle with a bold face, his fingers loosened.

"What we heard from Mr Trace was that Mr McNeil used to like Mrs Layton. For such a thing to had happened... I had no idea at all.”

The awkwardly distorted air was statically frozen. Jack and Kate, who were looking at each other alternately with their mouths open, soon burst into bewilderment.  

"What, what, we're... !”

"Ly, Lyle, did you really say that? Did you really say that?"

"Yea, yeah. I don't know the details, just, I’m just saying that George was particularly calling Kate on the phone, I thought it was just that, so that's what I said."  

With the faces of people who realized that the pit they had dug hard at work was their own grave, Kate and Jack looked at each other and stiffened like wax. Just like those who had forgotten the word itself, the only thing that came out of their mouths was vain air. It was Alvin who interrupted the short void.

"Then, a very powerful motive has emerged. It's going to be narrowed down to two. Is it an accomplice or one of you?"

"What nonsense is that? I told you earlier, Lyle had a problem, too!"

"Wh, wh, what are you saying? Why am I having trouble with George?! George is my boss, my benefactor who made my living!"

"Don't be ridiculous, every time you drunk, you know your mouth was always cursing George!"

"And whenever you were drunk you know you always said how disgusted you were with George!"

Red-hot face, words spat fiercely from their mouth, and fingers pointing at each other. Lyle's shiny forehead flashed with sweat. Looking at the fierce battle between the two, Jude raised both hands when Jack said, "Shut your mouth, you stutter!"

"Come on, calm down. There's only one person left, if you insist it's not each other."

"Jude, what are you talking about! It's this guy, this guy! Why are you holding on to Kate?"

Kate's face turned blue. As she looked at Jack with precarious eyes, she turned her eyes and looked at Jude. There was a stutter coming out of her mouth.

"I, I, I, I...."

"Yeah, you don't have to struggle here. The atmosphere here isn't good, but we can go to the station and talk."

Kate's face drained of colour. However, as she alternated between Jack and Jude without making any excuses, she soon shut her mouth.

Her complexion was as pale as a man standing in the Polar Regions, but her voice was quiet and calm.

"Yes, I did."

Jack's eyes grew as if they were going to pop out. “Kate!” Kate bit her lips. Her eyes toward Jack were firm.

"Don't say anything...."

"Kate, that's ridiculous! It can't be you, it can't be you!"

"Be quiet—I did it. Even though I didn't want to see George at this event, I was forced to come because I wanted to kill him. Jude, did you say you found one of my fake nails on the floor of the reception room? It's mine. I killed him. When I swung that wooden bat and hit him, he collapsed and died. I'll talk to you at the station, so let's go."

"No way! Kate, no!"

Jack hurriedly turned and headed for Jude. Jude's eyes, which were still looking at Kate, quickly caught Jack's eyes. Jack's dark brown eyes shook violently for a short moment. His legs were shaking as if they were going to collapse.

"I... I did it. I did. Kate didn't do anything wrong. I did it. I did it. When Kate was looking for me earlier, she found George when she was walking around. Through the back door over there, it’s unnoticeable to people’s eyes. There are also cigarette butts that I smoked and discarded on the side of the back door. It's me, it's me!"

"No, Jude. It's me, it's me. I went to the reception room, you know, the proof. I killed George!"

"Be quiet, Kate! Why would you be charged with a crime you didn't commit? When I hit him with a bat, he stumbled and fell down. He hit his head in the corner and died! So I kicked him into the fireplace and came back! I cleaned the bat's fingerprints, and I did everything!"

"Eh-Calm down for a second."

Jude raised his hand with a fed-up face. However, the desperate couple did not stop.

"Jude! I did it! Do you think Kate can do that on her own?"

"I'm the one with the strongest motivation!"

"Calm down!"

A demanding sound burst out of Jude's mouth. Jack and Kate shut up for a moment. Jude, who had been scratching his head for a moment, gave a long sigh.

"Oh, my... stop it. Kate, did he die when you hit him with a bat?"

"Yeah, he stumbled and collapsed, maybe he had a brain haemorrhage. So I push him into the fireplace."

The woman's face was filled with poison. Jude clicked his tongue lightly. Alvin, who was sitting quietly next to him, nodded.

"Okay, Mr Layton, it's you."

"What? It's me, didn’t you heard me so far!"

"George didn't end up getting one hit. He was hit once and also hit his head against the corner. Rather, the wound was as wide as he was hit. There was a lot of bleeding. Unless you were at the crime scene, you wouldn't know."

"No, I know, I saw, he hit his head in the corner of the table..."

"Kate, it wasn't a table, it was the corner of the fireplace. That's where the blood was on."

Kate stopped talking. Kate, who was looking at Jude as if begging, bowed her head. The increasingly poor breathing was irregular. Her long stretched hair quivered. Jack sat down with his face twisted as if he was about to cry. The thick hand covering his wife's shoulder was shaking visibly. Kate shook her head a few times and pressed her forehead. Several drops of water fell on the table. Soon her eyes were glistening as she raised them toward Jude.

"Jude... but I'm guilty, too. Me too..........here, it's not a lie that I come here to kill George. I'm......"

"Kate, stop it."

"No, Jack, I have to say it. For that reason, I went to kill George. On the pretext of looking for Jack... when Jack went out to buy cigarettes. So, I went to the reception room through the back door, and... George, he was already dead. I was so surprised that I sat on the floor......... maybe one of my nails fell off then. At that moment I had a bad feeling about it, but... I came out just like that because I was too preoccupied."

"Kate."

"I guessed it might be Jack... but, for that reason, I couldn't say anything. Jude, I'm guilty too. I came here to kill George, if left alone, I would have killed or attempted murder on him. Besides, seeing the crime scene, guessing the culprit and saying nothing, that's a crime, isn't it?"

"Kate, stop it!"

Jack's voice grew louder. To be exact, it's hard to establish a crime of concealment or aiding and abetting just by witnessing the crime scene and saying nothing. And the law applies to what's already been done, not to every murderous impulse. If not then more than 80 percent of New Yorkers are in prison. Instead of giving a calm answer out of his mouth, Jude asked Jack, who bit his lips.

"So, tell me what happened step by step."

"...... George, he tried to contact Kate even after she left the orphanage. Kate's been struggling with it all the time... so, I was going to see him today and tell him for sure, don't bother her anymore...But that guy, he didn't reflect on himself at all!"

Jude's eyes were blasé when he received the burning gaze. Nodding his head, the blond detective said to the man with a beastly face.

"So you went to bat him in a fit of anger?"

"Yes, and I don't regret it."

The man's face was tough. Jude, who stared silently at the face for a moment, soon stood up with a long sigh. As soon as the handcuffs he had always carried in his pocket appeared, Kate swallowed her breath and slowly receded to the chair where Lyle sat. On the contrary, Jack with his red face did not move. Jude turned his weary hand to his back and handcuffed him.

"Jack Layton, you're under arrest for the murder of George McNeil. You may exercise your right to remain silent, and everything you say can be used as unfavourable evidence in court. You have the right to appoint a lawyer and if you don't have the financial power to hire a lawyer, the country can hire a lawyer............... wait a minute. I'll get a police car."

"-Jude, talk to me for a second."

Kate with a face wet with tears jumped up from her seat. Jude, who glanced back at Alvin - 'I’m guarding him.' - opened the door after seeing Alvin's smile. After flicking past Jude, Kate walked faster than Jude and entered the reception room opposite the small room. Jude, who looked at her in the reception room with an uncomfortable look for a moment, immediately went into the reception room and closed the door.

"Why do you have to talk at the crime scene when there are so many other places? Even the smell of rotting....."

"Jude, be honest with me. How much... how much do you think he’s in? How much do you think he'll get?"

The woman's small face was desperate. Jude, looking at her trembling face for a moment, shrugged his shoulders and replied.

"Well, I can't say anything because I'm neither a jury nor a judge, but... in this case, there's a motive that can be taken into account, so if he does well, he'll get the minimum. Five years... maybe below that. Get a good lawyer."

For a moment, Jude wondered whether to smile or not. Eventually, Jude, who had a serious look instead of a smile, patted Kate on her back.

"Well, don't worry too much. It’s a big deal because it's happening to you, but there are so many cases like this. You don't have to think it's the end of the world."

Kate's eyes were round. Looking at Jude in a daze for a moment, she put on something like a wry smile. Her eyes toward Jude seemed as if looking at a problem child.

"You're still the same... I was wondering if you'd changed a little bit, but you're still the same. Strangely indifferent, even when comforting crying kids, as if nothing happened...”

"Did I?"

"Yeah, that's why the kids are so quick to calm down because if you make a fuss next to them, they cry even more. Even when you become a police officer... that doesn't change."

"Yeah, well. It's not just the kids, but it's the criminals that I’m dealing with, so I'm the only one who's short-lived."

"......yeah, I suppose so."

Her husband would now be among the criminals. Keeping silent with a dark face, she soon pressed her eyes and looked up. The wet eyes were laughing a little forcedly.

"Did you find those friends?"

"Huh? Those friends?"

"Yes, you just entered the orphanage at that time and I asked, because you called someone's name in your sleep. Then you said they were friends from a long time ago. You were close friends with them, and you got separated before you came here."

"......did I.........really?"

"You don't remember? Then find them when you grow up, I told you. You really don't remember? For months on end, so... I thought it was pretty important."

Jude, who was momentarily dazed, tilted his head. Calling someone's name in my sleep? Old friends? The thread that had been tightly coiled up on the spool without failure instantly crumbled. Jude opened his mouth mechanically.

"What was their name?"

"Jenny... and Toby. Jude, you really don't remember?"

Jenny and Toby. They were like some name combination in the cartoon. He once heard those names from Alvin over the phone. He had a nightmare that night. It was a dream that he didn't exactly remember. Jude's gaze slowed down to the fireplace behind Kate. The body stuck in the fireplace about two hours ago was still in the same position.

-You can't do that, you can't.

-Shut up. Go away! Hey, do something about her.

-You can't do that! There are other ways.

-Shut up, useless girl. What can you do to help?

-Help me. Don't just watch! Stop him!

"……I can't......"

"... Jude, Jude?"

Kate's voice seemed like it was heard through a thick mist. Things that weren't Kate's face offensively invaded in front of him. A man walking to the fireplace, a steel pipe in his hand. A boy was looking at the man’s back like a coiled up viper. And there was a frightened pair of children next to him. Mom, Mom. Shut up, there's no one to hear that nonsense. Mom, Mom. Be quiet! The girl cried at the shrieking sound. When that sniffle turns into a scream.......

"Jude? Jude! Jude, what's wrong? Jude, wake up!"

A disconcerted Kate let out a loud noise. Jude, who was barely conscious as she shook his shoulders, reiterated that he was okay. Kate's face was stained with anxiousness, barely resting her shoulders down.

"Well, are you sure you're okay? What's wrong with you all of a sudden?"

"Oh, wait... I had a dream while standing up. As I said before, I guess I'm a little tired these days."

"Ye, yeah?"

"Let’s go back. I have something to talk with Joan."

"Ah...yes."

Passing a grim-faced Kate, Jude walked past first. The disgusting smell of the dead body suddenly seemed to stimulate his oesophagus. I felt like I heard a crack in something. No, don't leak out. Barely swallowing it up to his throat, Jude opened the door. Inside the room, there was a helpless face of Lyle who didn’t know what to do and Jack sitting as hard as a statue. Alvin, who was watching Lyle rather than Jack, turned his head interestingly.

"Oh, Jude... are you okay? You don’t look good."

"Come out for a second.”

Alvin rose from his seat without delay. As soon as he came out of the door, Jude's dry voice rang out.

"I'm calling the police. Just go."

"...... Jude?"

“Don't say ‘I haven't seen you in a while.’ It takes less than five minutes if you call me."

There was no ripple on Alvin's face. The face, neither dumbfounded nor angry, had an innocent look on his face like a man plotting a route of the situation. Jude looked at his face, in silence, like an obnoxious police dog, without answering back.

"What happened?"

"You want to go back in? Why do you keep dragging your words? Forget it. Go."

"Jude, you know you don't have to hide it from me. What's wrong?"

"I told you to go."

A chuckle spread from the inside of his ear. It felt like he was messing up all my organs. Cheerful, but not as innocent as children. A vision-like dream that he could not see even if he tried so hard earlier tickled one side of his brain. His stomach turned upside down with nothing much in it. Sweat was all over his back. Jude closed his mouth without realizing it and Alvin slowly grabbed his wrist.

"Jude... where are you uncomfortable?"

"Shut up...... go."

"Jude, before that..."

"Go."

Alvin's face was filled with faint emotions as he spoke with his pale blue-grey eyes staring straight at him. Looking at Jude with a hard-to-judge face, Alvin soon nodded briefly. The pale-eyed serial killer must have quickly realized that no more needles would go in.

"Okay, I got it. I'll get in touch."

"Don't."

After a short pause, Jude took his cell phone out of his pocket. His voice as he speaks without looking at Alvin was a little light.

"Oh, Tim. Yes, I came here, but I have a problem. There was a murder. Oh, don't yell. One of my acquaintances died. It was solved. There's someone who confessed. So I need to get a police car and recover the body now, yes, please. Please come quickly."

At the end of his gaze when he closed the phone and looked around, Alvin was just disappearing around the corner of the hallway. Whether it had been checked in advance or he found out when investigating, it was the direction to the back door of the orphanage. Jude, who was looking at where he was for a while, let out a long sigh. It seemed that someone reached out for the muddy water where various dust and trash were deposited and stirred it to the fullest. He was insatiable even with the rich scraps.

Jude, who stood still and closed his eyes, soon shook his head and entered the room where Jack was when he began to hear the siren of a police car outside.

*        *        *

Well, did you expect that? Honestly, I didn't. To put the phrase cause and effect to this is taking it too lightly. I can't say I know how it feels like to be bothered by your rapist. Girl, that was creepy af. May we all be kept away from that. See ya.